


Polychromatic Angel

by SweetLiliumPoison



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Caring Dom, Dom/sub, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Omega Tony, Omega Verse, Sexual Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-12
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2017-12-14 18:03:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 14
Words: 50,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/839781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetLiliumPoison/pseuds/SweetLiliumPoison
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's spent his whole life suffering at the whims of his Masters and waiting for an angel to come save him, but will he recognize his angels when they come?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit- 17/10 11:30-- Changed the formatting of this chapter to reflect the rest of the story.

I know what I am; my Masters never let me forget. I am nothing more than their little slave.

With every laughed insult, every degrading pet name, and every time they force me to my knees at their feet they remind me I belong to them.

Every crack of the whip; every bruise and broken bone; every hard thrust into my body is nothing more than a reminder that they can do with my body as they please.

Even now Master Zemo proves that point to me.

He has me chained to the bed in the playroom. My arms are pulled harshly above my head and my wrists are handcuffed to the headboard. My legs are chained to the foot of the bed tightly; forcing me to keep my legs spread so wide it is borderline painful. The red ball gag they like to use is muffling my cries and silencing my words.

Master Zemo has taken his time; dragging this out and making me writhe and scream in pained pleasure for his own sick entertainment and arousal. He likes it when I writhe around for him; he says it’s like I’m doing a little dance just for him to the tune that he sets.

My Master’s hands press hard into my body; one playing with my chest, the other between my legs alternating between pulling harshly at my own straining cock and teasing at my quivering entrance.

I’m wet; I can feel it. Mater Zemo takes great care to spread the secretion all over my hole before slipping two fingers into me. I buck up; my eyes going wide at the unexpected move.

I whine behind the gag in my mouth as Master Zemo pushes his fingers hard into the spot inside me that sends fire racing though my body. I can’t help the desperate, pained whimpers that escape as he torments that spot so much it hurts.

Tears spring to my eyes as I fight hard against my own release. I am not allowed to come without my Master’s permission and Master Zemo has already made me come three times this session.

My Master leans back; pulling his hand from my chest to grab at my cock and jerk it a couple of times as he said, “ _Good boy. Come now._ ”

It’s all the prompt I need. With those words I’m coming hard for him, thick ropes of white seed spilling from my cock onto his hand and my stomach, while my walls contract around his fingers, forcing more of my secretion out in little squirts. It just adds to the mess already on the bed I can feel cooling beneath me.

As I lay there gasping I feel Master Zemo pull away. I look up at him and watch as he undoes his pants. His member springs free with no resistance and I can see the beads of precum already glinting on the tip. The sight is still arousing to me, even though I’m well spent and rather sore from everything my Master has already done to me.

Master Zemo lines himself up and thrusts into me in one go. It’s harsh and fast and I scream behind the gag so loud even my Master flinches. For all the playing we did, my body was still unprepared to take his girth all at once.

He gives me no time to rest, though, and goes at my body like a man possessed.

Everything hurts horribly and each thrust feels like it’s ripping me apart and I know I’m bleeding by now, but even now my body betrays me and hardens at the act. It seems Master Zemo will be done soon; his thrusts are erratic and his breaths come in heavy pants.

I shut my eyes and sob silently as a particularly hard thrust rips into me. I hear Master Zemo laugh and say, “ _Look at me._ ”

I don’t want to but I know if I don’t it will be much worse so I crack an eye open and look up at him. I can feel tears stinging the corner of my eye.

Master Zemo sees them too, he laughs as he asks me, “ _What’s wrong, my little whore? Does it hurt? If you want me to stop just say so._ ”

That felt like a knife in my heart. He knows I want this to stop and that I can’t talk and simply said that to remind me of my own helplessness. I can do nothing else but lay there and let him finish.  
  
After what felt like far too long a time I felt his cock twitch inside of me as he came. His hot seed fills my entrance and burns the cuts inside me badly. It feels like he set me on fire from the inside.

Master Zemo pants as he thrusts into me a few more times to milk the rest of his orgasm out and finally pulls away. He has pumped so much cum into me I can already feel it leaking out. I can’t find it in my battered body to stop it from spilling out.

Master Zemo straightens up after some time and fixes his outfit. He casts his eyes down at me; at the mess he’s made; and sneers. It makes his scared face twist into something terrifying.

“ _Disgusting little whore. You can’t even keep your Master’s cum inside? What a worthless little thing you are,_ ” he spat at me.

I watch as Master Zemo turns around and grabs one of the vibrators they use when they want to punish me and lines it up with my hole and pushes. It takes my Master a couple of tries to get it in all the way without the natural tightness of my body trying to force it out.

I sob softly after he manages to get the vibrator in. It’s far too big for me and it was ripping and stretching me painfully. The tears stream freely down my face from the pain and Master Zemo chuckles as he leans over me and licks them off my cheek.

He doesn’t say anything but does give me a little while to adjust before turning the vibrator on. He doesn’t set it quite at max but still up high enough that it is slightly painful.

Master Zemo grasps the end of it and wiggles it around for a second. I gasp as the vibrator presses right into that spot inside me and struggle a little as my body responds despite the pain.

Master Zemo smiles a little as he grabs my chin and makes me look at him, “ _Come as you need. I will send someone back in… oh, let’s say three hours to release you,_ ” and with that he left the room; shutting the door behind him.

I can do nothing more than lay there after that; staring at the ceiling and feeling my punishment tear me apart slowly as I thought about everything that had happened to land me here.

I still remember the day my life fell apart with surprising clarity.

It was shortly after my 14th birthday. I remember waking up in the middle of the night to screaming and loud crashes. They seemed to last for hours, and when silence finally fell I kept hoping that I would simply wake from some horrible nightmare. I did not wake up though, and after some time I called out to my mother.  
  
The man that entered my room I didn’t recognize, though. He wore a green and yellow outfit with a badge on the front that looked like an octopus.  I later found out he was part of a group called Hydra, who had been sent to kill my family, though I still don’t know why. I learned pretty quickly that it was better not to ask questions because they wouldn’t be answered and the punishments if I annoyed my keepers too much would be extremely painful.  
  
He dragged me from my bed and pulled me down the hall to where there were more people in the same uniform standing around. There was one more dressed in a purple and yellow; who I know now to be Master Zemo; standing in the living room looking down at the pool of blood on the floor. I still shiver as I remember the way he looked at me that first time; like the cat that had just caught a very tasty mouse in his paws.  
  
He walked over to stand in front of me and grabbed my chin so I was looking up in his eyes. There was a darkness there; twisted and terrifying; that is still there to this day. One of the men behind me asked if he wanted them to kill me.  He stood still for a moment then said no; that he had other, more satisfying plans for me. I wish they had.  
  
The men grabbed me and dragged me outside while a few others finished pouring something all over the house. When they were all out, Master Zemo struck a match and threw it back into the hall and we stood there and watched as everything I had ever know burned down.

Right from the start Master Zemo held an intense lust for my pain, a thought shared with the others that hold the same title as him. They thought that I would look so beautiful writhing and crying in pain and agony. So they handed me over to a group called A.I.M. to be used as a living test subject in a new experiment they were working on. I believe they coined the name “Omega Project” for it. The project's main purpose was trying to alter a person’s DNA enough that by nature they would be submissive to the ones that could dominate them and sexually hungry all the time. They performed the experiment on about 25 of their prisoners, only a handful of us survived.  
  
After that was done they heightened our pain receptors and pain tolerance so we would feel more pain but could endure more without passing out. They “softened” us, making it so that we bruised and bleed easily and with very little prompting from anything. It took very little pressure applied to make the area bruise almost instantly.  
  
They managed to slow the aging process and even physical altered our appearances through surgery and other means to make us more acceptable to our masters. I found that my Masters had very specific tastes with the amount of work they did on me. I couldn't recognize myself after they were done.  
  
They trained our bodies and broke our minds; made us believe that the only reason someone would want us was to be able to hurt us. They made us into what they dubbed the perfect little slaves, too afraid to do anything but submit to any debasement or humiliation.  
  
As an added bonus, mainly for my Masters, they tried to make it so the male omega test subjects; simply called omegas for short; could carry a child to term. It worked in a sense, I have ended up pregnant many times but I was not intended to be with a child and miscarried often. I did manage to carry a child to term four times but they were either born weak and did not survive more than a few days or they were born dead. I was always punished severely after miscarrying or giving birth for the failure to produce a healthy child.

I hardly remember anything from my life before My Masters came to me. I would have forgotten my own name too, if not for the fact that I keep reminding myself of it. A constant mantra in my head, over and over again, when my masters allow me time to think. One simple word that means so much to me; Tony.

Sometimes I hear it in another’s voice; soft, sweet, and feminine. I believe that it might be my mother’s voice, but I don’t remember much about her now.  
  
It’s not much. No more than a nickname from a time so long ago it might have been a different age entirely, and truthfully I don’t know if it is truly mine, but I hold onto it all the same. It’s all I have to remind me that at one point someone cared. I was safe, loved, and that I was; and am; more than just my masters’ toy.

It has been 20 years now; I know this courtesy of my Masters; and I still find myself wishing at times that it was nothing more than a horrible dream, but I know that such a wish is nothing more than a child’s folly.  
  
I jerk a little as the vibrator pulls another orgasm from me. It hurts now, and I cry out unintentionally, but I know no one will come and stop it, they all believe that I deserve this punishment, and I guess on some level I do too.

I can do nothing about it though, not chained to the bed as I am. So I just shut my eyes and pray for an angel to come and take me from this hell.


	2. Right Here Waiting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks to Skull_Bearer for being my Beta.
> 
> Italicized text is people speaking in German.

I slide down the wall and collapse to my knees when Master Schmidt finally removes the chains. My body is covered in fresh lash marks from the whip still in my Master's hand. A thin layer of blood coats my chest and more still leaks from the cuts; a testament to how hard and how many times Master Schmidt has hit me. The whip is meant to leave a mark but not break the skin.

Master Schmidt laughs and I don’t need to look at him to know he is watching me closely. I can smell his lust.

My Master puts the handle of the whip under my chin and tilts my head up so I am looking at him. _“Had enough, slut?”_

I knew I had to be careful. The wrong answer could mean a world of pain, so I decided for the safest course of action.

I look up at him through my lashes like I know my Masters like, and respond, _“I will happily take what Master gives me.”_

It’s all so rehearsed now and I'm surprised that they don't see through it. Maybe they do though and still like it or maybe they just don't care, but it keeps them happy which reduces my pain so I’ll say it all they like.

Master Schmidt laughs at that and wraps the whip tightly around my neck. He tugs at it; pulling it even tighter and completely cutting off my air; and drags me up so I was even with his face, _“What a smart boy you are. What a good little pet,”_ he almost coos at me.

I feel his free hand grasp my waist; so skinny from the fact they don’t feed me often that he could wrap both hands almost completely around it; and hold me in a bruising grip, _“Kiss me.”_

The command is simple and makes me feel sick. I know a kiss normally means you care a great deal for the person and the fact that my Masters would turn such a sweet thing into such a farce of intimacy breaks my heart a little more.

Still though, the loss of air is starting to make my vision blur and I know any hesitation will be dealt a swift and painful punishment far worse than anything Master Schmidt has put me through thus far this session.

With a heavier heart then should be possible trying to drag me back down I push up onto the tips of my toes and press a soft kiss to his lipless mouth.

Master Schmidt lets go of the whip and I feel it fall off my neck. Sweet air fills my lungs as I breathe in as deeply as I can through my nose. I would have pulled away to gasp for air if my Master had not moved his hand to the back of my head to keep me in place.

His mouth devours my own; taking everything he wants as the hand on my waist loosens and slides down to give my ass a strong smack. I cry out into the kiss at the sharp, stinging sensation.

Master Schmidt just laughs at me and cups the cheek he had just smacked in his big hand he kneads the flesh for a little while before slipping his hand into the crack of my ass and circles my pucker a couple of times, being careful not to pull on the tab of the toy he has in me.

He pulls away suddenly and violently pushes me into the wall. I stagger slightly before falling back to the floor as he stands there and watches me. I look up at him trying to figure out what just happened; I realize his gaze is focused on my thighs.

My face turns bright red with humiliation and shame as I quickly lock my legs together, but it does little good. Master Schmidt has already seen what I can feel; the slick wetness of my arousal dripping steadily down my legs from my aching hole.

Master Schmidt laughs cruelly and says, _“You are a little pain slut, alright. Was it the whip that you liked so much or is it the vibrating anal beads? I remember how you cried when I first pushed them in, saying they were too big, that they were vibrating too hard. You seem to be enjoying them quite a bit now.”_

It’s true. At first those beads had hurt like hell, each bigger than the one before, the last a little smaller than my fist and stretching me more than I thought something like that could. But now that my body has gotten use to the size of them the low vibrations feel really good.

As for the whip, I really enjoyed it until I started bleed from the blows.

My Masters asked AIM to make me enjoy pain and that is what AIM did. Now any pain up to a certain point will get me hot.

Master Schmidt already knows all this, though. He knows what they did to me and how much it hurts me that I can't help but be what they want me to. That’s why he asked though. Because he knows it hurts me in a way his fists and toys can't.

I shift so that I'm kneeling before him and bow my head to hide my tears and appear submissive, _"I feel only what my Master allows me. My greatest pleasure is a happy master."_

Master Schmidt doesn't say anything and for a moment I know a great deal of fear. It could end very badly for me if I upset him. Master Schmidt is by far the most creative of my Masters.

I hear the hiss of the whip flying through the air before it bites into my flesh. It curves over my shoulder and strikes down my back. Master Schmidt apparently has changed out the whip he was using for a regular one. I feel my skin split beneath the blow and warm blood spill out. I cry out from the pain as the blow hits some of the marks already there causing them to split open as well. I want to twist away and try to protect myself, but I know better than to move.

Twenty-five times the whip hit me. The strikes land everywhere; my back, chest, upper arms and what parts of my legs could be hit. The pain is horrible and I'm sobbing by the end. The tears flow down my face and drip off my chin to land in my lap.

Master Schmidt walks swiftly over to me and grabs my chin hard enough to bruise. He forces me to look up at him as he stares at my tear-stained face, _"Do you know what you did?"_

My breath hitches and I sob once more, but I manage to force out an answer, _"No, Master. Please, what did I do?"_

_"You are not to move without my permission! Have I been so lax with you lately that you forgot this?”_ He says as he slaps me across the face hard enough that my head snaps to the left.

I keep my head turned as I ramble apologies and promises to be good.

Master Schmidt snaps at me to shut up and I fall quiet in a heartbeat. He grasps my chin again; gently this time; and turns my face back to his. He takes a moment to study my face. He swipes his thumb over the cheek he just smacked and I feel the not-quite-pain of the bruise I know is already forming. He laughs softly and says with a gentle reverence, _“So beautiful. You are so perfect.”_

This is the very reason why Master Schmidt will always be the Master I am most afraid of. He is completely unpredictable and his mood changes so rapidly it makes him all that more dangerous than anyone else. More than Master Zemo with his habit of making me feel so much pleasure it becomes pain, or Master Strucker with his knives and needles, or Master Zola with his lab and all his little experiments, and far more than Master Reaper and Mistress Viper.

No, to me Master Schmidt is far more dangerous and scary than all of them combined simply because I cannot guess how he will react like I can with my other Masters.

He gets up and walks over to sit on the edge of the bed. I realize I’m whimpering softly when Master Schmidt coos, _“Hush now, little one. Everything is fine, just do as you’re told and not what you’re not and everything will be fine. Now come here.”_

I crawl across the floor and sit down in between My Master’s legs. He pats me on the head and says still a gently, _“Good, good boy. How about a little treat, would you like it if I turn the beads up? Answer honestly.”_

I know what Master Schmidt has planned and it would be a good idea so I nod and say, _“Yes, please, Master. Another level or two, please,”_ I hate the pleading in my own voice.

He nods and reaches over to grab the remote that was already on the bed. He sets the beads another two levels higher and I involuntarily cry out at the sensation. Master Schmidt gives me a few moments to whine and squirm in pleasure before grabbing hold of my head and forcing me to look at him, _“You do make the most beauteous little sounds, my pet. So sweet and needy, it’s almost a shame to gag you, but my own cock can’t be ignored anymore. Put that sweet little mouth of yours to work.”_

I’m gasping and whining still, it feels like I’m going out of my mind. I don’t give myself time to think about what I’m about to do, I just move.  
I grasp the base of my Master’s thick cock with my hand and lean forward. Slowly I kiss from the base up and kiss the head a couple of times before licking up the shaft right over the vein and sucking the head into my mouth.

I work my Master’s shaft as best I can; humming low in my throat when the beads shift in me and hit my spot the right way. My Master seems to appreciate it if the moan he lets out in an indication.

I move slowly to not choke myself as I take inch by inch of him in all the way until my nose is nestled within the rough patch of hair right at the base. Though it’s bothersome to sit like that; the hair makes me want to sneeze and I feel like I’m going to throw up from the pressure of Master Schmidt’s cock down my throat; I stay still for as long as I can. I know my Master likes the way my throat closes around him.

I concentrate on the beads inside me instead of my own discomfort and moan softly around my Master’s cock, making it twitch as he lets out a deep moan of his own.

Master Schmidt stays like that for a little while before growling, _“Move.”_

I know that tone very well and it only took me once to learn not to ignore it. The one time I did I was in such pain that I could not move for a week.

I waste no time and start moving my mouth up and down my Master’s thick shaft; sucking as hard as I could and using my tongue to massage it.

Master Schmidt leans back and spreads his legs a little wider. I can feel his eyes on me and I look up at him through my lashes. I feel him twitch in my mouth and he says, in a voice heavy with lust, _“So beautiful, so perfect…It’s a shame I only have enough time to come once. I can’t decide if I want to come in your mouth or your ass or if I want to stain that pretty little face of yours… hum…decisions, decisions.”_

I’m still torn up from Master Zemo and I really didn’t want Master Schmidt to take out the beads; I knew he would make it hurt as badly as he could. I just make a small sound that I knew he could both hear and feel and keep trying to please him with my mouth.

Master Schmidt laughs softly and asks, _“You have something you want to say, my Pet? Speak.”_

I really wasn’t expecting my Master to ask my opinion. To have a little time to think about what to say I deep throat him once more and take my time coming up making sure to suck as hard as I could and use my tongue to cradle the underside of his member. By the time I’m done I know exactly what to say to make it look like I was only concerned about my Master’s pleasure.

I kiss the head of his cock; now a deep purple color with how close he was; one more time and keep stroking with my hands as I look up at him through my lashes again. I say as softly and sweetly as possible, “ _Why only settle for one option, Master. It takes a long time for Master to finish when he does come, so if Master uses my mouth and comes that way he can pull out and come on my face as well. I can even leave my mouth open if Master desires.”_

Master Schmidt smiles at me. It is a feral, vicious look that makes fear claw at my stomach. He grabs my hair in a firm grip to bring my head back down to his crotch and says, _“Yes, I like that idea a lot. What a smart little pet you are. Yes, I think I’ll do just that.”_

He grabs the remote with his free hand and turns the beads up to max. The sudden shock of powerful pleasure to my already sensitive area had me lock my legs together and jerking out of my Master’s hold with a scream.

Master Schmidt tusks softly, reaches down, and forces me to spread my legs. For one wild moment I think he will take my cock in his hand and make me come, but I feel him slip something over it instead. The cold metal ring slips tightly over my cock and the spikes lining the inside scrape my skin and make me bleed. I whine pitifully as it stops me from coming.

_“Now, now. It won’t do to have the Pet come before the Master,”_ he says teasingly as he grabs my head and forces himself back down my throat.

I don’t think I can concentrate to do a good enough job at this point, but it seems Master Schmidt was content with thrusting into my mouth. I try to relax and just let him finish, but each thrust is choking me and the feeling of the beads and cock ring was so intense that I can barely breathe never mind think.

I am so zoned out that I don’t even realize Master Schmidt is coming until the bitter tasting cum has filled my mouth and is already running down my chin.

Master Schmidt pulls out and aims at my face. He lets the thick white ropes of his seed land wherever but does take some time to aim at my mouth again which is still open as I said it would be. His aim is terrible though and he manages to get more on my lips then in my mouth.

It takes him a little while to finish but when he does he leans back and looks at me. I know I must make quite a sight; I won’t move without his permission again so I sit there one my knees with my mouth open and eyes half closed with my Master’s cum dripping down my face and falling onto my heaving chest. Master Schmidt licks his lips at the sight and sniffs to pick up my own scent still heavy in the air.

_“What a beautiful little slut you are, such an obscene look on your face,”_ he chuckles then sighs deeply, _“Why don’t you put on a show for me while I recover, my Pet?”_

I flight the urge to swallow hard. Normally a request like that one means some form of humiliation, _“What does Master wish me to do?”_

Master Schmidt gives a lazy little wave as he says, _“Lean back, spread your legs and let me watch you bring yourself to completion. I really don’t care how you go about it. I just want to watch you come.”_

I’m fairly sure my face is bright red. I can’t figure out why Master Schmidt would want to watch something like that but I do as I’m told.

I uncurl my legs from under me, spread them as wide as I can, and lay back while I raise my butt in the air a little to give Master Schmidt the best view possible. I can hear the beads buzzing inside of me with this new position and I know Master Schmidt can as well.

I start off by running my hands over my chest; touching everywhere and gently pinching and pulling at my nipples. From there I slide my hands down to my hips and gently run over them and slow work my way over my own carefully trimmed patch of hair there to my cock.

I go to pull off the cock ring, but Master Schmidt stops me, _‘No. First take the anal beads out.”_

I whimper softly but I want this over with already so I simply leave the ring in place and run my hands a little further down. I can feel my own wetness now, it’s all over my ass and thighs and I know I’m close myself; a small blessing. Carefully I grab the slick tab for the toy and start to pull.

I can’t move to fast as the pain from pulling them out is incredible. The first one is so big that when it finally pulls free of my body there’s a small popping sound, but they get easier. The next is significantly smaller, but still I move just as slowly. I even moan a little for my Master. One by one the beads pull out until finally only one remains in.

I grab the lube slicked thread in between the bead and the one before it and tug gently. The last one is only about the size of a large marble so it springs free instantly, but now my body aches to be filled with something again.

I let the toy fall from my hand to buzz loudly on the concrete floor. The sound stops after a couple of seconds, so I assume Master Schmidt has turned it off.

I start to play with myself again, circling my entrance with a couple of fingers before plunging two inside myself. I move my other hand back up to my own cock but stop short of pulling the ring off. I hear Master Schmidt chuckle as he realizes what I’m waiting for, but he tells me it’s fine to remove the ring.

It’s painful to get off. The ring is already tight on me, but the spikes inside don’t want to let go. I tug hard at it and eventually it does come off, but I’m bleeding again. It’s nothing new to me though and I just ignore it.

Instead I start moving my hand up and down my own pulsing shaft as I curl my fingers around inside of myself trying to find the place my Masters like to torment so. I let out a loud cry as I do find it and proceed to rub at the spot as much as I can.

It takes a little more than I thought it would but eventually I do come. My seed lands on my chest to mix with my Master’s as my walls spasm around my own fingers and force more of my slick secretion out in squirts past my fingers.

After I’m done I simply collapse. I have no strength in my body left and Master Schmidt gets up to kneel down beside me. I feel him trace is fingers up the inside of my leg, collect my secretion, and bring it to his lips. He hums softly as he sucks it off his fingers and says, _“Everything about you is just so delicious. How do you feel, Pet?”_

_“I’m tired, Master.”_ I answer honestly.

Master Schmidt nods as if he understands. He stands and goes to say something but a knock at the door interrupts him before he can start. A low rank Hydra soldier stands there and he says quickly, _“Red Skull, Sir, Baron Zemo calls for you. He said something about S.H.I.E.L.D. hacking the system. He’s calling a full conference.”_

Master Schmidt growls, _“Oh, of course he is. Fine, take our little pet and get him cleaned up,”_ He spares a look down at me as he gets dressed, _“I suppose a little something to eat could hurt either if he’s feeling up to it, then bring him back here and let him rest.”_

The soldier snaps a sharp salute as Master Schmidt walks past him before he walks over and picks me up. He never says a word to me, but does exactly as he’s told and carries me to the room down the hall that holds the “shower” they let me use.

It’s nothing more than a hose that they spray me down with when I get too dirty for their liking. The water is like ice and the chains they use to keep me upright scrape my wrists raw because of how tight they are, but the towel is soft and one of the few things I’m allowed to cover myself with so I don’t complain.

After the soldier is done he removes the chains and lets me collapse to the floor. He waits for me to move so I was sitting down then drops the towel on my head. I quickly dry myself off as he walks over to the counter and picks up the bowl sitting there.

The soup is almost too cold to eat and I’m sure to them it’s nothing good, but it’s delicious to me and I eat it all in no time. There isn’t a lot and I’m still hungry after, but I am far too timid to ask for more. My body is sore enough and I don’t want to get anyone mad at me.

The soldier brings me back to my room after and locks me in. I curl up on the bed and as think about all that happened today alone I start to cry.

It’s cold in my little room and I wonder if I won’t freeze to death before my Masters could come in the morning. It would be a blessing, so it won’t happen.

I find myself wondering, as I often do when left alone, what I did so wrong in my life that I deserve this punishment. I know I did something wrong, my Masters have told me time and again that I deserve this and I believe them. They have never lied to me; I just wish I could remember what it was.

As I lay there, my thoughts drift to my angel. I wonder if I even have one anymore. If he is going to save me I hope he hurries, I don’t think I’ll be able to put up with this much longer.


	3. How to Save a Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks to Skull_Bearer for being my Beta.
> 
> Any italicized text is people speaking in German.

I awake to the insistent prodding of the Hydra soldier that has apparently been sent to rouse me. As soon as I am awake he sits me on the edge of the bed and inspects the lash marks on my body. It hurts badly, but they have already scabbed over and are healing nicely. My Masters are smart; it is easy to hurt me but I will heal quickly from the injuries even if the pain from them lingers.  
  
Seemingly satisfied with what he sees, he picks up the collar laying on the floor and fits it around my neck. He makes sure it’s secure then tugs the heavy chain attached to it and pulls me off the bed. I hit the ground hard, letting out a small sound of surprised pain and feel my knees start to bruise. Another sharp tug and I’m crawling along the floor next to him.  
  
He walks over to the corner opposite the door, making sure to keep the chain pulled taunt so the collar is choking me. He hooks the chain to the ring bolted into the wall, then grabs the cuffs for my wrists and ankles making sure they are very tight.  
  
He takes his time, making sure to touch as much of my body as he dares; running his hands over my arms and legs, even being daring enough to slip a finger in to feel my entrance. I was not surprised that he would, it was no secret that many of the lower ranking soldiers wanted me, if only to feel as powerful as my Masters for a moment.  
  
That alone told me that my Masters did not expect to be here soon, he would not have been so bold if he thought any of my Masters would come soon. They are possessive of me and would have killed him without hesitation if they had caught him.  
  
Once he has his fill he stood up and walks out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He doesn’t say anything to me and I push deeper into the corner. It looks like it would be a while before my Masters could come so I try to get comfortable and wait.  
  
My mind starts to wander again. I think back to what little bit of my life I do remember, even though I don’t want to. I sit there helpless as the day my Masters took away everything I knew plays before my eyes. The memories are dark and painful and not something I want to think about now, when I know at any moment one or more of my Masters could come walking in for another session but it’s not something that I can help.  
  
I have no idea how long I am lost in my dark memories, but I jump and look at the door to my room as a loud bang outside brakes my train of thought. I am happy that the sound has gotten me out of those dark thoughts, but at the same time, sounds like that normally mean someone is angry and if someone is I am about to be hurt.  
  
As I sit there, the sounds become more frequent and louder. I realize something is really wrong when I hear shouting and gunfire joining the bangs. I wish for someplace to hide in my little room, but it is mostly barren aside from the chains that hold me in place, and the bed that is too low to the ground for me to crawl under; besides, the chains dragging under would give me away.  
  
So I just curl tighter into myself and listen to the sounds on the other side of the door. Soon shouted commands in English; a language I remember from before but barely understood now; mix with then replace the shouts of the Hydra Soldiers.  
  
Curiosity compels me to uncurl from my ball and crawl to the door.  The sounds are mostly gone now so I place my ear against the door to try and here better.  
  
Farther down the hall I hear shouted commands to “Stop” and some other words I slightly understand but can’t place the meaning.  
  
Someone runs down the hall, stops right outside the door, and shouts, "Zemo's gone!” Followed by something else but I can’t understand what it means, and even then I really don’t care, the first part was enough.  
  
My heart stops; my Masters have abandoned me. I cannot understand it, why would they leave me? Am I really that unimportant to them? Who am I kidding; I am nothing more than their slave, their little toy. I mean no more to them than the rug on the floors.  
  
I pull back into my corner and curl back into a ball; my mind reeling. I shut my eyes tightly and try not to cry. As much as I am afraid of my Masters, as much as they hurt and humiliate me, I am scared to know they are not here. They are all I have known for over half of my life, I don’t know what to do without them.  
  
I hear cheering from down the hall and I realize that I am alone aside from the people that have chased my Masters away.  
  
I must have made some noise or maybe whoever it is standing outside the door heard my chains when I shifted, but all the sudden he shouts something and even though I don’t understand the words he says I can tell from the way he tries to open the door and from the tone I know he knows I am in this room.  
  
I barely have time to cover my face when he kicks in the door hard enough to break the wood and send splinters scattering though out the small room.  
  
I can feel eyes rolling over my form, taking in everything about me. I become painfully aware of the fact that I am naked.  
  
I am shaking like a leaf and I know it; it feels like my heart is trying to break out of my chest, but I force myself to look up and glance at where the door uses to be.  
  
There are three people standing in the door frame. The man on the left has his bow trained on me though his brown eyes betray his confusion. The man in the middle is taller the other two and well built, holding a shield out in front of him but it has slipped down a little as his blues eyes show sadness as he looks at me. The one on the right is female; she holds a pair of guns loosely at her side and her green eyes show worry and confusion as she takes in everything.  
  
The one in the middle lets his eyes dance over me again; lingering on each bruise and cut and the chains around my neck, wrists, and ankles; before he says something to his two companions.  
  
Whatever it is he said has the two stowing their weapons away, and he makes a motion with his hands before placing the shield down on the ground at his feet and moves to walk closer.  
  
He manages to cross the small distance in two steps, but he moves slowly and carefully; clearly doing his best to not scare me. It doesn’t work quite the way he wants; my heart is still racing and I still pull back when he gets too close, but he stops when I do.  
  
He sits down and crosses his legs, removes his mask, and says something to me I can’t understand. I don’t respond and he just looks at me. This goes on for what feels like 10 minutes before the woman still standing in the door says something to him. He considers her words for second then nods and says to me, _“Do you understand me?”  
  
_ I wasn’t expecting him to speak German. I nod at him and he smiles gently, _“What happened to you?”  
  
_ The question confuses me. I have no idea what he means so I stay silent. He says, _“Let me rephrase that. How did you get here?”_ as he gestures around the room.  
  
I do understand that, _“My Masters brought me here.”_ I say it a lot softer then I meant to though, and I’m not too sure if he heard me at first.  
  
He has though. He nods and asks, _“And how long have you been here?”_  
  
 _“My masters told me it had been over 20 years now.”_  
  
The look on his face is a cross of disgust and horror, though he quickly forces them down, _“All right. Do you have a name?”  
  
_ I flinch. What answer does he want? I don’t want to give the wrong one and get hit; this man looks like he could really hurt me without trying. I decide for the safest answer, _“My Masters just called me Pet.”  
_  
 _“Pet?”_ He almost sounds angry as he repeats the word, and for a second I fear he is mad at me. Even the woman and man still standing at the door make a very angry sounds.  
  
The fear must show on my face, because the man sitting on the floor quickly says, _“We’re not mad at you little one, but were you ever called something else?”_  
  
My mind drifts to the name and gentle voice I always hear in my head, and before I can stop and think I answer, _“Tony.”_  
  
The man nods; seemingly happy with the response; and asks, _“Tony, will you let me get those chains off you?”_  
  
My heart jumps a little, but I nod. Still as careful as he’s been; he comes towards me and gently gets me to uncurl. I’ve never had someone so careful with me; it is rather nice. I look up into his face as he takes the chains in his bare hands and breaks them like they were nothing. He is extremely handsome and I surprise myself with the thought that I wouldn’t mind him being my Master flutters across my mind.  
  
I quickly push the thought down as he looks back up at me after he is done; he would never want me anyway. My Masters have told me time and again that I am a worthless whore and that no one else would want me because I can’t offer anyone anything but my body.  
  
Something must have showed on my face apparently because he grasps my chin in a firm but still gentle hold that doesn't really hurt, and asks, _“What’s wrong, Tony?”_  
  
I can't answer him.  
  
 _“Tony, what’s wrong?”_ He asks again; a little more firmly.  
  
 _“Why are you doing this, do you intend to take me with you?”_  
  
The woman in the door answers instead, _“Yes, we do mean to bring you with us. Why? Do you think we’d just leave you chained here?”_  
  
My eyes dart to her for a moment before falling to the floor. How am I supposed to tell them that it is exactly what I am expecting? I can’t comprehend what is going on; even in my own mind. All of this is the complete opposite of everything I have ever been told or believed. I don’t dare let myself hope that they might want to be my new masters.  
  
 _“We will not leave you here. You deserve better and you obviously need someone to take care of you, little one. Now, do you have anything to wear?”  
  
_ I jump a little at the firm tone and nod quickly, _“Yes. In the room across the hall.”_  
  
She nods and says something to the two men in English that I understand to be her telling them to get me dressed as she goes to find someone before turning on her heels and walking from the room. The man standing in the door suddenly throws up his hands, says something so fast I can’t understand him, and runs off after her.  
  
The man kneeling on the floor in front of me sighs then looks up at me with a smile and says, _“Come on then, let’s get you dressed.”_  
  
He grabs my arm and tries to pull me up to my feet.  His grip; while I’m sure he thinks is not hard; is too strong for me. It feels like he is going to break my arm and I let out a cry of pain unintentionally. It causes him to let go of my arm and because my Masters had never let me walk anywhere my legs are far too weak to support me. I go crashing to the ground, snapping my wrist in the process.   
  
The pain is indescribable and I curl around the injury and try not to cry. The man is leaning over me, trying to get me to talk to him, but I can't think.  My vision starts to blacken and the last thing I’m aware of is his beautiful blue eyes looking down at me and him constantly calling my name before all I see is black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this will probably be the last chapter I do in First person. It's just a real pain in the ass to write it. Let me know what you guys think.


	4. Colorblind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks to Skull_Bearer for being my Beta.
> 
> Italicized text is people speaking in German.
> 
> Also if you want I wrote this chapter while listening to a few songs:  
> The Fray - How to Save a Life  
> The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony  
> and Counting Crows - Colorblind
> 
> Feel free to take a listen while you read if you want.

Steven Rogers; the great Captain America, is shaking like a leaf as he kneels next to the unconscious young man. His hands hover over the prone body, too afraid to touch him in case he causes any more harm. Tony’s scream still resonates in Steve’s ears and the boy’s breaths come in ragged gasps.  
  
Steve’s aware enough to realize the pounding he hears is not his own heart; beating a rapid tattoo against his chest; but the sounds of someone running down the hall. He looks up as Clint runs back into the room, followed closely by Natasha and Commander Fury. Commander Fury’s one good eye quickly looks around the room before settling on Tony.  
  
Steve falters at the sudden urge he feels to cover Tony and growl at Fury. The protective, almost primal urge is a shock, but Steve attributes it to the fact that Tony is obviously hurt and unconscious and quickly forces it down. Commander Fury wouldn’t have any reason to hurt him.  
  
“Steve, what the hell did you do?” Natasha suddenly shouts.   
  
Steve flinches at the tone, and says, “I…I think I may have underestimated my strength. I tried to help him up and he cried out in pain so I let him go but he didn’t have his footing and fell and something snapped and he screamed and just kept screaming until he passed out and…”  
  
Natasha is in front of him all the sudden, hushing him and Steve realizes he had been rambling and is hyperventilating now. Steve takes a few deep breaths to calm down and Natasha; satisfied that he is taking care to at least try; turns to Tony as she tells Clint, “Go find the Hulk; I think he’s still in the hanger; try to get him to calm down, we’ll need Banner if he’s really hurt.”  
  
Clint nods and runs from the room as fast as he can. For the next few minutes the only sounds are from Tony; even Fury doesn’t say anything. Natasha keeps herself busy by looking over Tony to see if she can help, and keeps to herself how mad she is at Steve; the place Steve had grabbed is already turning a nasty shade of purple. Tony whines softly and almost comes to when Natasha tries to move his hand to get to the injured wrist, but it doesn’t last and he’s back out before anyone but Natasha even registers that he was up.  
  
Soon enough Clint was back with a shirtless and shoeless Bruce in tow. Natasha speaks with him in a few quick whispers to tell him what was going on; somehow leaving out how they had even found the boy; before stepping back and letting Bruce help Tony as best he could.  
  
It takes over half an hour for Bruce to finish and the box that holds the medical supplies has to be replaced twice but finally Tony is all bandaged up.  
  
Bruce leans back and wipes the sweat off his brow, “That’s all I can do for him. He’s in really bad shape, but the most pressing issue is that his wrist is broken. It’s not bad thankfully, but it’s going to cause him a lot of pain. I’ve wrapped everything as best I can but we’d best get him back to the Helicarrier and into the hands of a real doctor. Also I might suggest finding him something to wear; even if it’s just to save him some embarrassment.”  
  
Commander Fury nods, “I’ll tell the Medics to be expecting severe incoming. Barton, Romanoff, Rogers, you three are going to have to give me a full debriefing for this when we’re done here.  I give you guys a lot of leeway, but this is something I cannot let slide,” He turns and walks from the room, not even waiting for acknowledgement.  
  
Bruce blinks and waits for Commander Fury to be out of ear shot before he says, “Ok, can someone tell me what he’s so uptight about?”  
  
Clint and Natasha both laugh softly and Natasha asks, “Isn’t it obvious? He thinks this is a Hydra trick.”  
  
White hot anger fills Steve and he stands up, “The hell it is!” Steve says a little more forcefully then he meant to, “Clint, ‘Tasha, you two saw how we found him, do you really think that was a Hydra trick?”  
  
Clint jumps a little, puts up both hands; in shock from the sudden outburst as much as the fact that Steve of all people just swore; and says quickly, “Woah, woah; Calm down, Steve. We’re on your side here. I don’t think it’s anything more than us finding someone Hydra abused; but Fury, he didn’t see that, he just saw the kid lying on the floor looking pretty beat up.”  
  
Bruce looks between the two before turning to Natasha and asking, “What are they talking about?”  
  
Natasha sighs, “We found him right in this room. We thought at first that it was just another Hydra Soldier trying to hide in here, but when we kicked down the door we realized we were wrong. He was chained up in the corner over there; rather obscenely I might add; and really banged up.”  
  
Bruce hums softly and looks back down at the boy and takes a few minutes to study him. The boy is highly malnourished and dehydrated, skinny almost to the point of looking sickly, and covered in a multitude of bruises and cuts and no small amount of dirt from the floor, but underneath all that Bruce can see the natural and flawless beauty the boy holds.

His skin is a soft alabaster, smooth and warm to the touch. His body is almost completely devoid of hair except for the shoulder length strands on his head colored such a dark brown they looked black against his skin and the equally dark and well-trimmed patch between his legs; something Bruce doesn’t want to think too hard on even though he’s fairly sure he understands the meaning.   
  
Bruce can’t stop himself; he reaches out and runs his hand through the hair on the boy’s head. He marvels at how soft it is as it slips through his fingers like silk; cool and smooth; it’s gentle caress leaving a tingling sensation on his fingers.  
  
Bruce plays with a few strands, twirling them around his fingers as he loses himself to thought. He spares a glace down at the boy’s face; expecting nothing more than the opportunity to study his features, but sees wide honey colored eyes staring at him instead. They are beautiful and Bruce sits there and stares unable to look away. His one thought is how easy it is to get lost in their exotic color, surprising depth, and hypnotic stare. They hide nothing; displaying every emotion clearly and loudly, but the most prominent emotion is fear.

It suddenly clicks into place for Bruce that they boy is awake and the poor thing is afraid of him. Bruce springs back like he was burned, trips over his own feet, and lands hard on his butt.  Steve, Clint, and Natasha all jump and stare at him for a moment, but Bruce doesn’t pay them much mind. He flinches softly as he sits up; and speaks as softly and gently as he can, “Hello there little one. Good to see you’re up so soon. How are you feeling?”

Steve smiles softly at the sight before him. He is happily surprised Bruce didn’t Hulk out as normally stress and shock makes him, but it seems like the inner beast is the furthest thing from his mind right now.

This one moment speaks volumes because even though Tony can’t understand what Bruce is saying; even though the poor boy is obviously scared; Tony seems to be calming down quickly and Bruce is being so gentle.

Steve looks over at Clint and Natasha and sees the understanding in their eyes as well; they can trust Bruce around the fragile young boy; it is obvious that Bruce would never hurt him.

Steve takes a moment to watch and walks forward to lay a hand lightly on Bruce’s shoulder. Bruce looks up at him in confusion and starts to say something. Steve just quiets him, “He doesn’t understand English. Let me talk to him.”

Steve sat down next to Bruce, and smiles softly at Tony, “ _Hey little one, I’m sorry about that, are you feeling ok?”_

Tony flinches back a little and Steve feels a sharp pang of guilt, regret, sadness, and loss; though he can’t quite understand the last one. Of course Tony would be afraid of him now; he had hurt the child badly; he tries again, “ _Tony, please, are you still hurting?_ ”

Tony jumps a little at being addressed again, but looks down at his hand. He is obviously surprised to see a thick strip of cloth wrapped tightly around his injured wrist and starts to poke at it. Quickly Natasha is in front of him grabbing his hand and makes him look at her, “ _Don’t do that_ ,” she says firmly, “ _That bandage will help your injury heal properly. Now, are you still hurt anywhere that we haven’t bandaged?_ ”

Tony takes a moment to just focus on his body before looking up at her and shaking his head no. The woman gives him a small smile; just the barest upturn of her lips and something Tony would have completely missed if he wasn’t so use to always having to read the little gestures from his Masters; and says, “ _Ok, good. Now, I’m going to ask you not to be mad at Steve, as hard as it might be. I promise you he feels really bad about what happened._ ”

Tony looks confused for a moment before saying, “ _Why would I be mad at him?”_

It is the woman’s turn to look confused, “ _Because of what happened. Your wrist is broken now because of how he tried to pull you up._ ”

Tony shakes his head and says, “ _I don’t blame him. My Masters never let me walk. I spend so little time actually standing that when I am up right it’s normally because I’m being held up by something or someone._ ”

Steve looks worried, “ _Then…..Then how did you get around, little one._ ”

Tony looks down, ashamed of the answer, but knows better than to not give it, “ _I…I crawl. My Masters like it when I crawl…they think it…_ ”

The woman put a finger against his lips to quiet him, “ _Hush now. It's not important, not right now._ ”  
  
Tony trembles softly and is silently thankful. He doesn't want to think about how his Masters humiliate him, not right now. To try and find something else to focus his thoughts on he looks back at the bandage on his wrist; running the tip of his fingers gently over it. Softly someone says, " _Careful, little one. Bruce wouldn't like to have to re-wrap that._ "  
  
Tony looks up and simply says, " _Bruce?_ " _  
  
_The woman points to the new man in the room sitting next to the one she called Steve, " _That's Bruce. He's sort of like a doctor, he's the one that wrapped you up and tried to tend to your injuries as best he could._ "  
  
Tony looks at the man and Bruce smiles at him. Tony shifts uncomfortably and looks down. It was never a good thing when his Masters smile at him and he can't help but worry that it would be the same here with this new set of Masters. Still though, this little moment made him realize that he didn't know all of their names. So looking up again, he points to the dark haired man and simply says, " _Bruce._ "  
  
The look of confusion he gets is almost funny to him, but he ignores it for the moment and points to the blonde haired man and says, " _Steve._ "  
  
Steve blinks and suddenly laughs softly as he realizes what Tony was doing. When the boy lifts his finger to Natasha but doesn't say anything; prompting a very confused look from the female assassin; Steve says simply, " _Natasha._ "  
  
Steve smiles softly as Tony mimics the name and points to Clint. Steve doesn't need to say anything this time; Clint gives Tony a cocky smile and says, " _Clint._ "  
  
Tony nods and folds his hands back in his lap; looking down at them. Steve would give anything to know what was going through the boy's mind. Tony seems to struggle with something for a minute before almost shyly looking up at them though his lashes; Steve's stomach does a strange little jump at the beautiful sight and he knows everyone else is not immune to the sight. He asks so softly Steve almost didn't hear it, " _Is...Is that what you would like me to call you, or is there something else you wish to go by?_ "

Steve doesn’t know why, but he doesn’t like the sound of that, like there’s some dark meaning behind the question that he couldn’t piece together. He looks to Natasha to see the same understanding shining in her eyes.

Natasha sighs softly, “ _Those are our names, Tony. Those are what you can call us until you get a bit more familiar with everything._ ”

She only realizes after that it was probably a little more strict that she meant it to be, and confirms the thought when Tony whispers, “ _Yes, Ma’am._ ”

Natasha quietly curses herself, but there is nothing that can be done now. The call comes through on their coms that S.H.I.E.L.D. is getting ready to pull out, so Natasha turns to Steve, “Steve, take him across the hall; carefully this time; and get him dressed. Clint, Bruce, and I will go commandeer a Quinjet and wait for you.”

Steve nods and watches as they all walk from the room. When they’re gone he turns to Tony and says, “ _Ok let’s try this again, I’m going to carry you this time. You said your clothes were in the room across the hall correct?_ ”

Tony jumped softly, “ _Ye…yes, Sir._ ”

Steve moves so that he is kneeling in front of the boy. He carefully shifts Tony’s weight around so that one of his arms was under the bend of the boy’s knees and the other wraps around the middle of his back, “ _I’m going to need you to wrap your arms around my neck, ok?_ ” He asks softly. Tony nods and does as asked.

Once Steve is sure that Tony is secure in his arms, Steve stands up, slowly to be safe, and when standing he looks down at the boy in his arms.

Standing with Tony in his arms Steve can truly understand just how small Tony is. The poor boy weighs next to nothing; so light Steve feels like he’s holding little more than air; and even if Steve were to help him stand, Tony would not even come up to the middle of his chest.

Tony’s head lay lightly on his chest and he is looking up at him; those big honey eyes drawing Steve in and he forces down the desire to place a kiss on Tony’s forehead. Steve feels that protective urge rear up again and he swears silently to himself that he will never let another soul hurt this boy again.

Steve draws a deep sigh, taking a moment to center his thoughts and whispers, “ _Come on then, little one, let’s see if we can’t find you something decent to wear._ ”


	5. A Beautiful Lie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait on this one guys, I had a slight problem with my computer dying and now I have no idea where my beta went. So fair warning I'm posting this to get a chapter up for you guys so you don't think I've died or something, but this is unbetaed beyond what I have done myself.
> 
> Italicized text is people speaking in German.

Steve's footsteps echo loudly in the otherwise abandoned hall. He is never going to admit it, but the silence is freaking him out a little and the sooner he can get Tony dressed and get back to the others the better.

He walks quickly across the wide hall and carefully adjusts Tony so he could open the door. Tony's grip tightens around his neck and Steve is acutely aware of how Tony is shaking. He stops for a moment, looks down at the boy in his arms, and takes note of how wide the little one's eyes are. Steve frowns a little. It almost seems like Tony is afraid of the room, but that would be a ridiculous notion. " _Tony?_ " he asks softly.

Tony flinches and looks up at him and Steve can see the fear plain in his eyes. Steve frowns again, and says, "Tony, why are you shaking? What’s wrong?"

Tony quickly looks down again and buries his face into Steve's chest and mumbles something. Steve blinks and says, " _I can't hear what you're saying._ "

Tony peaks up at him again and whispers, " _Are...Are we staying long?_ "

" _Just long enough to get you dressed. Everyone else is waiting on us._ "

Tony nods and buries his face back into Steve's chest. Steve hesitates for a moment; still confused by Tony's reaction; but figures it would be better to just to get Tony dressed and leave this place behind them. So being careful that he doesn't drop Tony, Steve opens the door with his hip and walks into the room.

Steve looks around and stops dead. As he takes in the room Tony's fear of the place suddenly makes sense. It is a veritable paradise for the sexually depraved and a nightmare for someone that has been abused as Tony has.

Cages line one wall. Some are small and cramped and would force whoever is shoved inside to stay on their hands and knees, some are bigger and would allow for some movement but not much, but all of them are little more than instruments of humiliating sexual abuse. In the cages and on the walls around hang heavy iron chains, collars, and handcuffs.

There are mouth gags, whips, flails, paddles, and even a few bamboo canes with cruel cutting ribs lining the wall opposite the cages almost like a show case. Obvious meant to intimidate whoever was locked in the cages.

There are leather body harnesses hanging above the biggest dresser Steve hand ever seen; Steve can easily see the harnesses are meant to show off the body and leave the wear completely helpless.

The most prominent feature though is the large bed in the very middle of the room with a variety of ankle and wrist fetters to hold a body in the most offered and degrading positions.

Steve feels sick as he looks around the room. He doesn't want to think about the horrors Tony had to endure in this room; the very room he almost willingly came back to. Steve is momentarily stunned by the boy's bravery, no matter how forced it might be in this case.

A soft whimper draws Steve's attention back to the boy in his arms. He looks back down at the small form curled tightly against his chest and his heart aches for Tony. Another quick glance around the room confirms that the only door in the room is the one to the hall so Tony's cloths must be in dresser. Steve realizes that he needs to put Tony down before he can look though, but it seems like there is nothing he can sit him on that won't cause the poor thing some worry.

Steve stands there and thinks for a moment before he decides to just put the boy on the end of the bed. He walks over to the bed and Tony makes a small terrified sound; Steve can't blame him.

Steve momentarily wonders if Tony is even aware he keeps letting those little sounds out, but pushes the thought away and carefully balances Tony so he can move the bindings out of the way. Once he had an arm free Steve quickly sweeps them out of the way and moves to sit Tony on the edge of the bed. As he pulls away he can see Tony's wide, fear-filled eyes staring at him.

Steve stops and looks deep into Tony's eyes. Tony whimpers softly in response, but quickly silences himself.

Steve whispers, " _Settle, little one,_ " he places a hand on the back of Tony's head and let's his forehead rest against Tony's, " _Settle. You are safe here with me._ "

A strong tremble rips through the young frame, but just once. Tony's honey eyes bore into him; still fearful but not anywhere near as bad now; and whispers so softy Steve had trouble hearing it, " _You promise?_ "

Steve smiled softly at him, " _I swear it on my very life, Tony."_

Tony nodded and gives a rather weak smile and Steve smiles back. Steve finds himself leaning forward, tilting his head slightly. His eyes suddenly go wide and he pulls away from Tony, almost jumping back. He can feel the burning in his face as he turns around quickly, muttering something about clothes, as he thinks, 'Did I just try to kiss him? What the hell is wrong with me? Nice, Rogers, just after you told the poor kid he was safe with you too. Oh I hope he didn't notice.'

Tony reels from the sudden loss of contact. He blinks a couple of times as he looks at his new Master rummaging around in the dresser. He is fairly sure that his Master had wanted to kiss him, but for some reason didn’t.

Maybe it is the room; he surely wouldn’t blame him. Tony’s old Masters wouldn’t touch him if one of the others had recently played with him unless it was a group activity; at least not until he had been cleaned up. So it would make sense that his new Masters would want to make sure he is cleaned up first.

And though Tony would never say it aloud -it is not the place of a slave to speak unless prompted first- he is very grateful for the fact. He well understands his role with his new Masters now, and though it does not bother him he does not want the tone for what they expect of him set in the very room his old Masters had created to be able to hurt him more easily.

Besides his Master promised he is safe, that must count for something. His old Masters had never lied to him, every promise they made the followed through with. Tony expects no different now, even with a new set of Masters.

Tony folds his hands in his lap and sets his eyes on them. He does not move or look away; he simply waits. When his Masters are ready they will call for him.

Steve sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. There is very little that could qualify as clothing in the dresser; in one drawer are some shirts and shorts but most of the shirts are mesh and the shorts would barely cover Tony’s butt. Another drawer holds an assortment of thigh-high socks and a pair of knee-length, high-heeled boots.

Steve doesn’t even want to think about the things he found in the other draws; he swears that was an electric cattle prod and he doesn’t want to think about what it was used for.

Heaving another deep sigh, Steve grabs the pair of black cloth shorts he thought would most cover Tony, a blood red tank top, and a pair of black socks. He grappled with the idea of forgoing the boots, but decided it wouldn’t be a good idea. It was cold outside and the boots would go a long way to helping keep Tony warm. Steve curses their bad luck at finding Tony in the dead of winter.

Steve stands up and turns to look at Tony again. He has never seen anyone that looked so dejected, the boy sits there with his hands folded neatly in his lap and staring down at them. Steve walks over and kneels down in front of Tony, placing the cloths to the side, and places a hand gently under Tony chin. He tilts Tony’s head up so he could look into his eyes and whispers, “ _Tony, is everything ok?_ ”

Tony nods slightly; not pushing much on Steve’s hand but still getting the point across; and says, “ _Yes, I am waiting for you._ ”

Steve looks at Tony; once again getting the feeling there is more behind the words then what is being said. He has to remember though that Tony has essentially grown up as a slave, there was probably a lot he would have to learn about the boy’s mannerisms that he cannot understand just yet. Instead he picks up the clothing off the floor and says, “ _Ok…Let’s get you dressed and leave then._ ”

Tony looks down at the cloths his Master has chosen and feels his cheeks warm up. While it certainly isn’t the most revealing thing he has ever worn, it is suggestive enough.

He hears his Master laugh softly and steals a look at him out of the corner of his eye. He realizes a moment too late that his Master has seen him and he expected to be hit for daring to look at his master without permission, but instead the man just says, “ _I am sorry, little one, but you are very cute when you blush,_ ” which only makes Tony’s cheeks warm up even more.

Tony looks down again, and his Master gently grabs his chin to making Tony look him in the eyes, “ _I am sorry, Tony. I did not mean to embarrass you,_ ” he waits for a moment and Tony realizes that he is waiting for acknowledgement of what he said. Tony nods softly and his Master smiles; running his thumb lightly, almost lovingly, over Tony cheek, “ _Ok then, let’s get you dressed._ ”

Steve pulls away almost reluctantly; good hell if the boy’s skin isn’t soft as silk and for some reason that just makes him want to keep touching him; and instead grabs up the shirt he picked out. Turning back to Tony, he holds up the tank top and says simply, “ _Arms up._ ”

Tony fought to reign in a happy sigh; finally something that made sense out of this whole situation. It is a simple order that has no room for argument and he happily complies if only for a bit of normalcy. He feels his Master slip the garment over his head; he remembers that Mistress Viper got this shirt saying that it would go nicely with his eyes; and settle it on his chest.

Steve isn’t too sure how to feel as he looks at the tank top on Tony. Part of him hates it; it’s far too tight, clinging to every curve of the boy’s body and almost accenting the fact that he is far too skinny; but a more traitorous part of his mind rather likes the sight before him. Steve quickly tells that part of his mind to shut up; he could try to decode those feelings later. All that matters right now is getting Tony out of here.

Piece by piece he helps Tony get dressed, careful not to upset his bandages. The shorts are by far the most embarrassing part for either of them, and Steve is sure his face will be red for the remainder of the day because his hand slipped and he ends up touch Tony somewhere he had no right too. Tony, for his part, does not seem fazed though and Steve files that little realization away for later.

Steve zips up the last boot, stands, and looks down at Tony now clothed; as indecently as it might have been; and looking up at him through thick lashes. Steve is struck in that one moment at how young Tony actually is. It seems so wrong to dress him like that and Steve wishes for something to cover his young body more. Tony doesn't seem bothered by the revealing clothing; in fact he seems almost happy to be wearing something which only makes Steve feel sick to his stomach because it speaks volumes of the abuse the poor boy has suffered.

Once more the anger he feels whenever he thinks of how this all happened because of Zemo and his minions rears up and he wishes that he hadn’t failed to stop the monster from escaping. He wants to hurt Zemo for everything he had done to Tony.

Tony notices the change in his Master, it is clear he is just barely suppressing his anger. Tony feels his heart tremble, he has no idea what brought on this change, but he knows it's not good for him. He doesn't know what to do, with his old Masters he would know who to calm down and who to remain quiet around, but this is new waters. Tony thinks for a few moments before deciding that the only way he would ever know is to just do it, if he is punished...well, it isn't like it is something that hasn't happened before.

Tony reaches out and softly lays a hand on his Master's hand. It doesn't seem to faze the man at all so Tony bows his head and looks up at him through his lashes; trying to appear submissive and docile; and starts to say Master before he remembers that his Mistress said to address them by their names. Tony swallows softly and says, " _Steve?_ "

Steve jumps at the quiet call. He looks down to see Tony leaning forward slightly, looking up at him with those big honey-colored eyes. Steve stares into them as Tony continues to look up through his lashes. The emotion behind those eyes is unreadable right now, but still Steve can't look away. Steve shook his head and concludes that this boy's eyes will be the death of him; they hypnotic nature could cause anyone to freeze in the moment. Steve sighs and says, " _Sorry, little one, I guess I got lost in my own thoughts._ "

Tony keeps staring at him, and says softly, " _Forgive me... Steve, but you're angry. What is wrong?_ "

Steve blinks wondering what the boy would feel he needs to apologize for but says, " _It is nothing you need to worry about. I am not mad at you._ "

Tony blinks and bites his lower lip and Steve finds himself focused on the move. After a moment's thought Tony says, slowly and carefully, " _Would...Would you like me to...do anything to help you calm down?_ "

Steve's heart freezes. He wants to believe that Tony isn't offering what Steve thinks he is, but Steve is no fool. He knows what the boy offers and knows that Tony only does because he is afraid Steve would hurt him otherwise.

Steve swallows his disgust at the thought that the poor boy would even feel the need to offer, and says, " _No, it's fine. I'm better now. Come on, let's get out of here._ "

Tony pulls back slightly with a nod and lets Steve pick him up again. This time Steve carries him like one would a small child; cradled against his chest tightly. Tony rests his head against Steve’s shoulder and one hand on Steve's chest over his heart.

Steve can’t help but think just how cute Tony looks just like that, so small tucked in his arms. Steve wants to keep him like that forever; safe and secure. Steve tightens his hold on Tony and gives him a small squeeze. He quickly lets go though, and turn and walks out the room and down the hall towards the hanger where everyone else was waiting.

Tony shifts softly and settles deeper into his Master's arms. The strong arms around him are very warm, and he can both hear and feel his Master's strong, steady heartbeat, and; though he can't explain why; it makes he feel so safe. He can't remember the last time he felt this safe and warm. Tony feels his eyes start to slip shut and though he tries to fight it; a slave should always be awake, alert, and ready to tend to the needs of his Master; he drifts in and out of sleep.

Tony slowly wakes once more and notices his Master and he are in a part of the base he has never been to before. It's much colder here than his room or the playroom and Tony can't help but shiver slightly as the cold bites into his skin. His Master looks down at him and says softly, " _I'm sorry Tony, I know it's cold. I promise it will be much warmer on the quinjet. We can find you something warmer to wear on the jet or Hellicarrier._ "

Tony looks down, " _Yes M....Steve._ "

His Master stops at a metal door, looks down at him, and says, “ _I'm going to make a run for it to the jet once we're out the door. Are you ready?_ "

Tony looks between the door and his Master and leans closer to the man; fisting his hand into his Master's shirt as he trembles.

He understand that when he and his Master let that door close behind them that is it, he more than likely will never come back here. It is a daunting thought; the knowledge that he is never coming back to the place the he called home since he was sold back to Hydra.

Tony clings tighter to his Master and whispers, " _I'm ready...I'm ready, I'll be fine,_ " but he is not truly too sure of that.


	6. Pale (Have to Stay)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very big thank you to singingwithoutwords for betaing this on such short notice.
> 
> Edit- 17/10 11:16 -- so yeah I just realized some of the formatting got screwed up. Fixed it; nothing in the wording changed.

Clint's anxious pacing is driving Natasha slowly crazy, not to mention making her slightly dizzy. She watches him pace for a couple more lengths before it becomes too much for her.

Natasha takes a steadying breath so she won't yell at him when he really hasn't done anything wrong and says, "Clint, will you sit down? Pacing like that isn't helping anything."

Clint does stop for a moment and looks over his shoulder at her. Their eyes lock for a few seconds before Clint's shoulders slump suddenly and he sighs heavily, "Sorry 'Tasha, it's just been so long. What if they ran into some lingering Hydra soldiers or something? We shouldn't have left them alone. They could be in trouble or hurt; we should be there to help them."

Natasha gets up and lays a hand on Clint's shoulder, "Calm down. Steve has his Com-Link; if anything like that happened, don't you think he would have called us?"

"Yeah, I suppose..."

Bruce looks up from his book for a brief moment to add, "And don't forget, Steve was fighting Hydra long before our parents even thought about having kids."

Clint smiles a little and even Natasha quietly laughs at the little jibe at their leader, each dutifully avoiding the years the Captain spent on ice. It was still a touchy subject for the man.

Natasha looks back out the small window on the door, lost in thought, and notices Steve running full-tilt towards the jet. For one heart-stopping moment she thinks Clint might have been right. It doesn't look like anyone is chasing him though.

Still, she doesn't want to take any chances. She grabs her guns, tells Bruce to get up front in case they need to take off quickly and hands Clint his bow. Clint throws the door open so Steve has easy access to the jet and the two take post on either side of the door, weapons ready.

Steve crosses the bay quickly and leaps the last few feet into the jet; hunching down and curling around his middle. Natasha spins to look at him, but before she can say anything Steve looks over his shoulder and says, "Shut the door, quickly. Don't let it get too cold in here."

Clint blinks rapidly a couple of times but turns and shuts the door. Natasha slips her guns into their holders and walks over to Steve, "What happened?"

As Natasha looks over Steve to make sure he is not hurt she notices the timid, honey-colored eyes looking up at her from his arms, but Tony quickly looks back down at his hand clenched tightly into Steve's shirt. Natasha idly wonders why he never keeps eye contact with anyone for very long; not sure if it is part of the training she knows he's endured, or if it has something to do with the boy himself. Then she notices how Tony is dressed.

Natasha's eyes go wide as she chokes for a moment. She raises her hand to slap Steve, but thinks better of it, and shouts, "Rogers! What the hell?!"

Steve flinches and takes a step back, "Wait, Natasha, I swear this was the most decent thing I could find!"

Natasha just stares hard at him and he sighs, "Look, I'll explain in a minute. Let me find a blanket or something for him; I can still feel the chill from outside on his skin."

Natasha frown deepens, a soft growl in the back of her throat that she doesn't let out, but nods crisply and moves out of the way. She watches intently as Steve walks over and ever so gently sets Tony down on one of the benches. Tony looks up at Steve for a moment, wide-eyed and shaking slightly, before slowly uncurling his hand from Steve's shirt.

Tony watches Steve for a moment before throwing a quick glance at Natasha and Clint, only to quick duck his head when he accidentally catches Natasha's eye.

Natasha and Clint exchange a quick glance before looking back at the young boy sitting there with his legs closed tightly and his hands neatly folded in his lap. Tony's eyes are trained on his hands and he seems intent on not moving. He doesn't even move his eyes when Natasha kneels down in front of him.

Natasha frowns slightly, reaches out to brush Tony's hair out of his eyes. Tony starts at the touch, and glances up at Natasha.

Natasha looks deep into beautiful honey eyes and for a moment she forgets what she had been doing. It passes quickly though, and she gives herself a small mental shake as she asks, " _Tony, is everything ok?_ "

Tony's face is completely unreadable, which honestly worries Natasha more than she was willing to admit, but he does respond with little more than a whisper: " _Yes, I'm just waiting._ "

Natasha blinks and looks back at Clint for a moment. She sees the worry in his eyes as well and knows that he can feel it too; there is something very wrong with Tony's response.

"Yeah, he did that one to me, too."

Natasha snaps her head to see Steve standing there with one of the emergency blankets and a pillow in hand. He moves past her quickly, sets the pillow down on the bench next to Tony, and wraps the boy tightly in the blanket. Natasha quietly marvels at how gentle Steve is being as the Captain lays him down and brushes Tony's hair out of his face, smiling softly down at him as he whispers, " _Rest now, little one. You must be tired._ "

Tony doesn't say anything, just locks his eyes on Steve's for a moment. His eyes slip shut and in almost no time his breathing is slow and steady. Clint walks over to stand next to Natasha and Steve as well, crouching down to look at Tony better and resting his forearms against his knees, "He must have been really tired, I don't think I've ever seen someone nod off that quickly."

Steve shoots him a look out of the corner of his eye and says, "Really, Clint? Just think about what he must have gone through before we got here, then imagine how hectic and confusing today alone must have been for him- I can't blame Tony for just being out of it and completely exhausted."

Natasha nods and says, "I agree. I'm fairly sure that we've just successfully turned his world upside-down in a few short hours, and it will only get worse for him. Let him rest, he'll need it. Besides, I believe you promised an explanation, Rogers."

Steve almost flinches under the harsh glare Natasha levels at him. He sighs heavily, sits down on the bench opposite the one Tony lays on, and quickly launches into the story about what happened after they had left. He gives as much detail as he possibly can about the room Tony had directed him too, and explains everything to the best of his ability; leaving out the instance where he had almost kissed the young boy, he has a feeling Natasha will rip his chest open if she knows. He makes sure to emphasis, mostly to get Natasha to stop glaring at him, how he had looked though everything to try and find the most decent thing he could.

The silence that follows after is thick and weighs heavily on Steve as he lets the other three think on everything that he has said. Clint is the first break the silence, "So there's no chance of denying it now, huh? I mean, I had thought... but I had hoped it wasn't true..."

Natasha just looks over her shoulder and silently studies the sleeping form shivering slightly under the blanket, sadness reflecting clearly in her eyes. Steve looks down at his hands as he realizes Clint is right. He has spent this entire time trying to deny what he knew in his heart; that someone can truly hurt the innocent young boy laying across from them in such a manner, but they cannot anymore. Tony would need their help, especially if; as Steve imagines; he had spent his entire life as a slave to Hydra. Steve wonders how they are to convince the boy that he was abused so badly if that was all he had known his whole life.

Bruce's voice cuts from the front of the jet, "It will take patience mostly. We'll have to take it step by step and keep reminding him of the fact he was abused. Show him how he should have been treated and make him see that what they did to him was not normal and very wrong. We have to be careful with him, try not to yell or get mad when he doesn't get it right away, because he won't, all of this has been too deeply ingrained into him. Hey Clint, come up here and take the wheel. We'll be at the Hellicarrier in about 20 minutes and I want to check on him before we get there."

Steve starts for a moment, trying to figure out what Bruce is talking about when he realizes that he had accidentally asked the question out loud. Steve shakes his head, and watches as Bruce approaches the sleeping boy.

Bruce picks up the edge of the blanket to look at the bandages and checks Tony's vitals and a few other things. Bruce doesn't like the results; the boy is far too cold and his vitals are dropping but not into dangerous territory yet. Bruce thinks over what he can do quickly, before deciding the best thing right now would be to try and warm Tony up and wake him up so he doesn't go into shock and slip into a coma.

Bruce carefully picks Tony up, momentarily stunned by how light the boy was, and sits down cradling the boy in his arms. He turns his attention to Tony to try and wake him only to see that Tony's honey eyes are already focused on him.

Bruce has to fight hard not to jump out of his skin.

Bruce laughs nervously, calming his racing heart and assuring the beast inside that there was nothing wrong when it gave a observatory push at Bruce's consciousness, smiles down at Tony, and says, "Steve, can you please ask him if he's feeling ok and if I woke him?" Bruce smile widens as Steve asks and Tony's head snaps towards him. It is a rather cute reaction as Bruce can feel Tony relax in his arms, just knows that Tony is happy to know Steve is somewhere nearby.

Tony's big eyes just stare at Steve unblinking, but slowly he shakes his head no and says something in return. Steve turns his attention back to Bruce and says, "He says no you didn't, and that he's feeling a little cold still."

Bruce nods and holds Tony tighter to try and help him warm up. He watches as Tony slowly relaxes; letting his head rest on Bruce's chest. It seems like Tony is starting to drift off again, so Bruce shakes him softly.

Tony goes stiff in his arms and looks up at him, "Steve, tell him I'm sorry, but we need him to stay awake. It's far too cold right now and we don't want him going into shock."

Steve relays the message again and Tony just stares at Bruce; looking for all the world like he is going to fall asleep again; but he shifts so he is sitting up more and looks around the jet with interest.

The rest of the flight passes quickly and in near silence. Tony is so fascinated with the view outside the window he isn't shaking anymore, and seems quite content to sit in Bruce's arms and stare outside.

No one says anything about it, but Bruce can tell that they are all wondering when the last time the boy had been outside the fortress or even seen the sun was.

When Clint shouts back that they were about to land, Steve is so distracted watching Tony watch the clouds outside the small window he almost jumps out of his seat. He looks over at Bruce and Tony; who didn't even seem to notice; again as Natasha leans over and whispers softly so not draw their attention, "Is it just me, or does it seem like Bruce is....calmer somehow?"

Steve just nods. It isn't lost on him either, normally Bruce is fighting for control on a good day, but even with how stressful this situation has to be to the man, and the fact that for a moment there it looked like Bruce's eyes had gone green, Bruce seems to be in control. Steve says just as softly back, "Let's worry about that later, you know we're ending up in the briefing room after this, it's sure to come up anyway."`

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Commander Fury is standing on the Deck of the Hellicarrier with Agent Hill, Agent Coulson, and Doctor Mayer, watching as Agent Barton brings the Avenger's quinjet in for a smooth landing. A few minutes after Barton walks into the back of the jet, his eye is twitching with how long they're taking. Finally they disembark the plane and Fury has to fight to keep his face neutral as Banner walks out the door carrying the boy. He makes a mental note to question them on it later.

Agent Romanova is speaking quietly to the boy in Bruce's arms; her features softer then Fury has seen them in a long time; but she quickly falls silent as they stop in front of their senior agents. Fury gives them all a once over with a scowl firmly in place but to his slight disappointment; or maybe pride; none of them show any outward signs of being affected.

His good eye drifts down to look at the boy in Bruce's arms and the first thing he notices is the beautiful color of the child's - for even Fury cannot deny how young he is this close - eyes. Big, bright, warm, and so very innocent, the boy is looking around the deck of the Hellicarrier with pure fascination, but when his eyes fall on Commander Fury the child flinches and pulls back, hiding as best he can in the blanket he is wrapped in, and tries to make himself seem as small as possible.

Fury blinks for a second, wondering what has the child acting like that, when he realizes he is still scowling. He can do nothing about it now, so he simply turns to look at his Avengers again and says, "Right. Now that you all have graced us with your presence; give him to Doctor Mayer and get yourselves down the the debriefing room. While the Doctor checks the boy..."

Captain Rogers suddenly interrupts, "Tony."

"Excuse me?"

Rogers at least has the sense to flinch at the tone, "His name is Tony, sir."

Fury felt his eye twitch again, and grounds out, "And you know that how exactly?"

Rogers blinks, looking so lost it would be laughable if Fury was the laughing type, and says, "We asked him."

Fury has to take a moment after that and try hard not to rub the bridge of his nose in irritation. "Fine. While the Doctor Checks Tony over the 5 of us are going to have a nice long chat."

Banner straightens, "Sir, I want to stay with him, he's not..."

Fury growls at that, "It is not a request, Doctor Banner. You are going to be in that room in 5 minutes, or so help me, you will not like the end results."

Banner looks like he is going to argue again, but a sharp glare stops him. He turns to Doctor Mayer instead and says, "He can't walk, his legs are far to weak so you'll have to carry him. He only speaks German, as well. Doesn't seem to understand anything else, so if you have someone that speaks the language it would probably help. And be careful of his left wrist, it's..."

Doctor Mayer smiles down at Bruce and gently interrupts, "Mr. Banner, please. I am a medical doctor and I was debriefed on the condition he might be in when he got here. I promise I will handle the situation appropriately. As for him only speaking German: I happen to speak a little, and one of my nurses speaks it fluently. I trust her fully and will get her to act as his attendant. Now please, give him here so I can get him back to you quicker."

Bruce nods softly and places the child carefully into the doctor's arms. It seems Tony does not want to let go of Bruce's shirt, his fear of the situation clear in his eyes, but one tap to his hand has him uncurling his hand and pulling it into the blanket. When the child's full weight settles onto his arms Doctor Mayer says, "Hum. he is much lighter than I thought he would be... I will take my leave now to attend to him, I will bring the report to you all in the briefing room when I am done."

Fury just nods and watches as the Doctor walks away before turning and walking into the Hellicarrier himself in the opposite direction, knowing that the Avenger are following with Agents Hill and Coulson bringing up the rear.

A short, silent walk has them at the briefing room in no time, everyone in their seat and Fury glaring hard at them again. A few minutes of silence and Fury knows they were fighting not to fidget uncomfortably. Fury growls softly and says, "Ok, now start from the beginning and don't leave anything out."

He listens intently as they recite the story for him. He stays silent for the most part, only telling them to skip the part he was there for and saving his questions for after they are done. Fury has never been so happy for his perfect composure before as he listens to Agent Romanova explain how they found the child obscenely chained to the wall and Rogers described the room the child had directed him to when they had tried to find him some clothing to wear.

Fury stays silent for a little while after they finish thinking how to phrase his questions when Captain Rogers says, "Sir, do you really think Tony is anything more then he seems?"

Fury would never admit it but the question through him for quite a loop; he has no idea what Rogers is talking about. Fury looks at him hard and asks, "What are you talking about?"

It is Agent Romanova that answers him instead, "Well....when you left you didn't seem too happy about any of it. It seemed like you thought he was some Hydra trick or something..."

Fury has to fight not to laugh, "Agent Romanova, it's my JOB to think like that, and it's my job to protect you from your own stupidity. I know you well, though; as much as I still have my hesitations about him - and only time will dispel those - I know you would not trust just anyone. I'll send someone in to take pictures of the room Captain Rogers was talking about to see what exactly we're dealing with here, but for the moment, provided you answer the following question satisfactorily, I'm willing to trust you all on this. Within limits, of course."

Agent Romanova nods, "Of course. What are your questions, sir."

"First off; do you intend to remain a part of his life from here on out?"

Doctor Banner answers for them, "Yes, sir. You saw how he acted with Doctor Mayer; he's timid with everyone and scared of everything around him. I have no idea why, but Tony seems to trust us even if he is still afraid of us. We stand the best chance of helping him."

Fury nods; he had of course seen the way the child reacted to everyone and there was no denying that he trusted the team for some unknown reason; but he was more concerned if the Avengers were making a more personal and emotional investment in him. "That's a good textbook answer, I'll grant you, but you know what I really want to know. Are you all getting personally attached in this, or can I trust you to walk away from him if need be?"

The Avengers don't answer right away and Fury frowns at their hesitation. He opens his mouth to say something when Captain Rogers, not looking up from his hands, says, "I...I can't speak for everyone, sir, but I know there's something more there.. for me anyway. I'm very overprotective of him, and I can't explain why, so please don't ask me, I just am. He's just so..... sweet and innocent. He doesn't seem to understand how badly he's been hurt, and he was just so trusting of us right from the start. I just want to make sure he doesn't get hurt again. If that means having to walk away from him, I will. It might be reluctantly, and I might want to fight it, but I will do what's best for him."

The other Avengers murmur soft agreements and Fury shares a look with Agents Hill and Coulson. Their eyes spoke the same thing he was thinking; this odd attachment to the boy when they barely knew him was worrying and something S.H.I.L.D. would have to look into. Fury elects to leave it alone for now and says, "Alright, I can accept that answer, but another issue I have is: if you are all so over protective of him, then why was Banner the one carrying him?"

Banner flinches at that and says, "I know I'm not the most....stable of the team, Sir, but like Steve said- there's just something about him. I can't explain it, but I just know that even the Hulk wouldn't hurt him. It's hard to explain but whenever I'm near him, I feel it pull back. Almost like it knows that Tony would be afraid of it and it doesn't want him to have to be. It's hard to explain because I've never been good at guessing what the Hulk wants or is doing most of the time - he is a beast of pure, primal instinct - and I am able to explain it to anyone else even less, but whenever I'm around Tony I just feel calmer, more in control."

Fury knows a headache is coming on as he tries to process all of this. He continues to question them, but everything else after that seems fairly standard. He can not figure out why Captain Rogers and Doctor Banner seem to feel so strongly about this, but he also knows that upsetting the two could have dire consequences, especially concerning Doctor Banner, so he decides to play along for now.

Fury nods once and says, "Ok. I am willing to let you all keep him, under a few conditions. One: He is not to interfere with you duties as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents or Avengers; your job must always come first. Two: As long as you insist on playing his caretakers, you a confined to a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility unless given specific permission otherwise; I will insure that the facility is to your liking though. Three: Agent Coulson will be staying with you to insure that nothing adverse happens, and he has permission to use any means he deems necessary if he feels things are starting to go into dangerous territory. Can you agree to those?"

Agent Barton groans dramatically, "Commander, come on! Do we really need a handler again? No offense Coulson, but we finally just got rid of you."

Agent Coulson's lips pull up in a ghost of a smile as he says, "None taken, but I have to agree with Commander Fury. Tony, right? He's an unknown variable, and we won't take any chances."

Commander Fury says, "Right now those are the conditions. Either agree to follow them or we will find someone else to take care of the child."

The Avengers all agree rather quickly. It's an unsettling reaction for Commander Fury, but he simply turns to Agent Hill and says, "Hill, do what's necessary to keep this under wraps, but get everything in order. I want a place for the team tonight."

Agent Hill stands quickly with a sharp, "Right away, Sir." and walks from the room as quickly as she can. No sooner is she out the door than Doctor Mayer walks in carrying the boy. Fury frowns again when he sees the child is shaking badly but when Captain Rogers quickly takes the boy from the Doctor and sits back down it's easy to see the child is calmer, though he still won't look anywhere but the hand he has clinched tightly into the Captain's shirt and isn't responding too well when Rogers tries to talk to him.

Fury cast a look at Doctor Mayer and the Doctor looks sheepishly at them as he says, "I...ah...forgot to tell my nurse about his special circumstance and unfortunately when we were attempting to give him a physical, he freaked out when she removed his...um clothing. I did not want to worry him more so I did what I could, but he did not like the procedure at all, and well.... You can see the end result. I have the more basic results here," he held up a very thick manila file folder that had Tony's name on it, "and we drew some blood to send to the lab. I will let you know more when I get some more answers."

Fury nods and casts another look to the child wrapped tightly in the blanket and laying so still in Captain Rogers' arms as he says, "Good. What do you have to report, then?"

Doctor Mayer flips open the folder and says, "Well, much of it is what you would expect of someone that had been in his position. He is severely malnourished, dehydrated, and sleep deprived. He has multiple abrasions to his arms and legs, some very severe bruising to his abdominal and chest areas, and even worse bruising along the inside of his thighs. The skin around his neck, wrists, and ankles have been rubbed raw and is prone to cracking and bleeding. It seems as if someone took a whip or something similar to his...well everywhere recently, within the last two to three days, though the cuts were tended to properly and are healing nicely. His left wrist is the most pressing issue, really, as it is the freshest injury. It is severely sprained and I wrapped it up for him and gave him a mild painkiller, but I will warn you it will probably make him very tired."

"Anything else?"

"Well....I didn't get a chance to check, Sir. The way he was acting made me tentative to do so, but I'm fairly sure the child has suffered some very extreme sexual abuse. I'm worried about the injuries he might have sustained, but to be able to check for such a thing... I don't think he'd like what we'd have to do at all."

Fury looks hard at Doctor Mayer, "Do you feel it's necessary?"

Doctor Mayer looks at him and is quiet for a second before his mouth twitches slightly and he says, "Yes, I do... If he sustained any injuries to that part of his body it might be part of the reason he can't walk. It's a very delicate and sensitive part, making it very easy to injure."

"What do you think would help you complete the examination, then?"

"Maybe if we had one of the Avengers with us when we try to do it? He seems to trust them... especially Captain Rogers," He nods over to the man in question, "If I may steal him for the procedure, hopefully he can convince the child that this is necessary and he will be all right long enough to let us do what needs to be done."

Commander Fury turns his attention to Rogers and says, "Go with the Doctor. If he feels it needs to be done than it needs to. Try to keep him calm long enough for the Doctor to finish. We will wait here for you to return, about how long will it take Doctor?"

Doctor Mayer smiles at him, "Probably about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how helpful he might be and the extent of any damage done."

Fury just nods and waves them out of the room before settling in to wait for their return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little note about this chapter just in case anyone is confused:
> 
> Bruce has an interesting back story in this. The Hulk is something that has always been there; it's his other personality (He has Dissociative Identity Disorder from his abusive father). It was always there lurking under his skin but when Bruce doused himself with Gama Radiation it allowed that personality to take hold and use the radiation to alter Bruce's body thus creating the creature know as the Hulk. When that happened the Hulk became it's own being simply sharing Bruce's body. Think sort of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hide.
> 
> Now the Hulk is not a "monster" is this story, he is simply a child and acts out as such (I figure Bruce doused himself maybe 5 years ago in the story so that would make the Hulk about 5 years old). So while the Hulk has a very basic understanding of things and acts like the child he is; children tend to be very unruly and somewhat destructive as they learn their own limitations; he is learning that he needs to be cautious of what he does because he is much stronger then everyone else and can easily hurt them.


	7. What Have You Done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so some people have been very confused about what Tony looks like in my story so here's a little bit about him before I get into the chapter:  
> \- Height: 4 Feet 1 inch  
> \- Weight: about 40 pounds (I kid you guys not, with the info I already gave you in the story I did out the math and that's what I got)  
> \- Skin Color: Very pale, almost white  
> \- Eye Color: Honey yellow  
> \- Hair Color: Very dark brown, almost black  
> \- Hair Length: Shoulder  
> \- Also, remember that A.I.M. genetically altered his DNA (People keep asking why he looks so different)
> 
> If I can ever get off my lazy behind enough, I will be drawing a picture of him and posting it to [my tumblr.](http://sweetliliumpoison.tumblr.com/)

Steve follows Doctor Mayer down the twisting corridors to the med-bay. The entire time Tony is silent in his arms, and Steve finds himself rambling nonsense to fill the silence when the child doesn't respond to anything. Steve doesn't honestly know who he is trying to comfort more with his incessant talking: Tony or himself. Either way, it doesn't seem to be working.

If Doctor Mayer minds Steve's rambling, he doesn't give any outward signs or say anything about it. He simply keeps walking a few paces ahead of Steve, leading him to the med-bay, and Steve is silently thankful for that because he honestly isn't paying attention to where he is going.

Doctor Mayer stops outside the sliding door to the med-bay and turns to look at Steve, "Captain Rogers?"

Steve almost jumps out of his skin at being addressed, but he does look up at the doctor.

Doctor Mayer seems to take that as he now has Steve's full attention and says, "Please calm down. As I stated before, the child is probably very tired right now from the painkiller I gave him and still shaken up from his first visit here, and I'm sure you constant talking isn't helping that any."

Steve blinks a couple of times and shakes his head, a little embarrassed at his own actions, and says as calmly as he can, "Yes, you're right. I'm sorry. What are we doing from here?"

"Good," Doctor Mayer doesn't so much as blink, he just turns around and walks into the med-bay, "Right now we're going to head back in, but I'm going to take him to a different room this time. My nurse should have the room all set for us, as I did tell her to prepare it just in case- to make this a little quicker."

Doctor Mayer walks into a side room where there is a leggy blonde nurse in a S.H.I.E.L.D. issued uniform far too tight for her and a plastic smile that makes the hairs on the back of Steve's neck stand up. Next to her is a tray covered with a white cloth.

Steve gives her a hard look, but Doctor Mayer grabs his attention before Steve can try to think about what it is about this woman that sets him off. The Doctor motions for Steve to come closer as he picks up a long needle off the counter and says, "Right now what I need you to do is hold him still. I want to give him a mild sedative for this procedure; if he fights, it could end up doing more harm than good. This will simply keep him..." The doctor stops and tries to think of a good word, before a small smile pulls at the corner of his lips, "docile enough to be able to do it."

Steve blinks slowly. He looks at Doctor Mayer hard and the look isn't lost on man, "What's wrong, Captain?"

Steve just continues to stare at him, "Why are you smiling like that?"

He honestly didn't mean it to come out as accusing as it sounded, but the Doctor is smiling like the cat that caught the canary. It's setting every one of Steve's soldier instincts off.

Doctor Mayer blinks once, his smile fading quickly, and raises an eyebrow, "My, but you are a trifle overprotective, aren't you?" His almost sneered comment confuses Steve for a moment until he realizes that he's twisted his body away from the Doctor to try and keep Tony away from him. "I'm sorry- I didn't realize I was smiling.  But if I was, it's because of the feeling you get when you remember a particular word that you wanted to use but could not remember at first."

Steve feels like kicking himself, "Um...sorry," He grinds his teeth slightly, "Commander Fury called us on that earlier, too. Here, I'll help as much as I can."

Doctor Mayer nods but his expression doesn't change. He simply pushes the plunger of the needle until a little of the clear fluid inside comes out, as Steve carefully unwraps the blanket. The doctor wipes down a section of Tony's arm with an alcohol pad, then lines the needle up and pushes. Tony lets out surprised cry and tries to twist away from the needle but Steve holds him in place with strong arms and whispers, " _Relax, Tony. I'm here, you're safe._ "

Tony whimpers softly as he stares wide-eyed at Steve. Slowly his eyes drift down to the needle in Doctor Mayer hand, and he watches as the doctor finishes injecting the sedative and pulls the needle out. Another soft whine leaves the boy - more then likely without his knowing - and Steve has to fight down the urge to curl around Tony and growl at anyone that comes near.

Tony turns wide eyes back to him, and Steve can just see the tears in his eyes that Tony is too proud to let fall, or maybe too scared. Either way, Steve knows he needs to do something to help the poor thing calm down, so he sits down on the examination table and seats Tony sideways in his lap. He wraps a strong arm around Tony's shoulders and uses his free hand to ever so gently run his knuckles up and down Tony's spine.

Tony stiffens slightly in his arms and casts a sideways glace at the Doctor, who is watching them intently, but quickly succumbs to the drug running though his systems and the calming, repetitive motion of Steve's hand.

Tony is leaning heavily on Steve's chest, not quite asleep but so close now it wouldn't take much for the boy to drop off. His breathing is slow and steady and such a respite from the frantic pattern he had before, and Steve is surprised to note that as Tony calms down so does he. Still though, he doesn't think much of it, simply blames it on the overprotective instincts he seems to have developed for the gentle soul in his arms, and lets a small, affectionate smile pull at his lips.

Doctor Mayer voice almost makes Steve jump out of his skin when it cuts across his conscious, "Captain, now would be the perfect time to complete the procedure. In this almost asleep state, he might not even be aware of it."

Steve has to shake his head to clear it and nods, "What do you need me to do?"

"As I said, I know he will not like this at all, so be prepared for a little backlash. What I need you to do right now is bend him over the table so only his chest actually rests on it."

Steve blinks, "Like... Like a prostate exam?"

"Yes, but I'll need a little more access than that. I need to be able to check everything, after all."

Steve blinks again and fights against the sickening feeling in his stomach. He hates prostate exams because of how vulnerable they make him feel, and he has never been abused as Tony has. This will be torturous for the poor boy.

Doctor Mayer frowns deeply, "Captain, I can see you're hesitant about this, but I must remind you, it is for his health."

"Yeah...It's for his health," Steve repeats quietly, though he is still uneasy with the idea. He stands up and gently lays Tony down on the table as instructed. Tony makes a small, slightly confused sound and looks up a Steve through half lidded eyes. Steve smiles at him and goes back to rubbing his hand up and down Tony's spine, all the while feeling like his own smile is laced with poison.

The doctor walks over to stand behind Tony and says, "All right now, Captain, why don't you kneel down in front of him so he can see you, and just try to keep him calm and still as possible."

Steve nods and sits down on his feet so he is eye level with Tony. Tony looks at him, and Steve can see he is fighting the effects of the drug by the way his eyes are sharper than a moment ago. Tony squirms a little, like he wants to stand, but Steve lays a strong hand against the back of his neck, effectively and easily holding him in place.

Tony let's out a scared little whine and looks at Steve with wide, honey eyes so filled with fear Steve's heart cracks at the sight. Steve falters for a moment, wanting nothing more than to pull Tony into his arms and just hold him until he's not afraid anymore, but ever so gently starts to swipe his thumb along the back of Tony's neck and whispers, " _Steady, little one. I know you're scared -oh how I understand that- but this needs to be done. We have to make sure you're not hurt, and I'll be here for all of it_."

Tony just stares at him. Steve can feel the way his muscles relax under his hand, but also knows in no way is Tony calm. He locks his eyes with Tony's and continues to swipe his thumb along the base of the boy's skull to try and help him calm down.

It seems like it's working. While Tony is hardly calm, he is at least holding still for the most part, but suddenly Tony jumps as much as he can with Steve holding him down and cries out sharply, only to bury his face in his arms and start whimpering.

Steve jumps up himself at the unexpected motion, and looks around for the cause of Tony's distress. The first thing he notices is Tony is naked from the waist down. The second is that Doctor Mayer is sitting on a stool that puts him eye level with Tony's now exposed backside and is pulling off the shorts Tony was wearing and hands them to his nurse.

Doctor Mayer places his hands high on the inside of Tony's thighs and pushes his legs apart, then wheels the chair forward and uses his knees to make sure Tony can't close them, leaving Tony completely exposed to the doctor. Tony whimper softly again as he realizes he can't close his legs.

Steve bristles at how careless Doctor Mayer is being and is quick to snap, "Doctor! For God's Sake, you could have at least warned him before doing that! Tony is scared and confused as it is, and I'm sure he's never had a procedure like this done before. Weren't you debriefed on everything before we got here? You should know how we found him, and you even said yourself the signs of abuse were obvious! Are you always this careless? It's an affront to the position you hold to not think about how your patient will react to something! Tony is not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Doctor, you can't just expect him to understand everything going on around him and ---"

"CAPTAIN!" Doctor Mayer shouts as loudly as he can. Steve instantly shuts up, the shout surprising him, and the doctor sighs, "You're right, I probably should have said something. I thought you two were so wrapped up in each other he wouldn't notice, but clearly I was wrong. You yelling at me for the next five minutes over it will only serve to prolong this for him, though. Now please, keep him still so we can finish this."

Steve fights back a growl, both at how the man is speaking to him and how flippant he is being over the fact that he probably just scared Tony badly. Still, he is right about this taking more of a toll on Tony then either of them, so Steve just shuts up and kneels back down next to Tony, takes his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. He thinks Tony yelps at it; with the boy's face in his arms it's hard to tell, but Steve still loosens his grip, just in case.

Steve positions himself so he can watch what Doctor Mayer is doing somewhat, but at the same time is still there if Tony needs him. Doctor Mayer snaps the blue latex gloves on his hands as he says, "For the sake of time I'm just going to keep working. You can talk to him, touch him, whatever you feel is needed to keep him still and calm so we can finish this quickly. I doubt he would even understand anything we were saying if we tried to explain what we are doing or why it needs to be done, but if it helps you feel better, than please feel free to."

Steve doesn't say anything. He just reaches out with his free hand and starts to gently pet Tony's hair, and continues to watch the doctor.

Doctor Mayer just looks at him for a moment, face unreadable, before setting to work. He reaches in between Tony's legs and takes his balls in both hands, first weighing them, then squeezing gently and using him thumbs to look for any abnormalities. If Steve is honest with himself, the over protective part of his brain is screaming at him that the Doctor seems to be fondling Tony more than anything, but he quickly quiets it.

Tony whimpers softly as all this is going on, and Steve turns him attention to him. He start to pet Tony's head again, running his fingers through hair softer than the finest silk and loving the tingling sensation it left on his fingers, and just keeps telling him how good he's being and how proud of him Steve is and that it will all be over soon.

Tony whimpers again but does move his arms a little so one honey eye catches Steve's. Steve smiles brightly at him and it seems to help Tony relax even more. He slow uncurls his arms from around his head and even leans into Steve's touch slightly. Tony's eyes slip shut and his breathing slow a little, though he is still panting.

"Nothing unusual about the scrotum and penis," Doctor Mayer says. The nurse makes a quick not of it on the clipboard she was holding.

Steve glances back at Doctor Mayer to see him shifting his hands up to Tony's butt. He pulls apart Tony's cheeks and studies the pucker for a moment. Doctor Mayer hums softly and says, "There's some minor tearing to the sphincter and obvious bruising, but it's seems to be healing nicely," Tony suddenly lets out a sharp cry as Doctor Mayer pushes his thumb against the pucker.

Doctor Mayer pulls his hands away and says, "There seems to be some moderate muscular damage as well, with how sensitive he is." The doctor takes note of Steve staring at him, "Captain, I'm going to be honest with you: this next part he will really not like, especially with how sensitive he seems to be. I need to use a speculum," Here the nurse helpfully holds up a long, thin clear-plastic tool and proceeds to open it to show Steve, "to open his sphincter because I need to be able to look... well, inside."

Steve looks at the doctor dumbfounded, "But that little bit of pressure really hurt him! Can't this wait until after he's healed some?"

Doctor Mayer shakes his head, "No.  If there is extensive damage to the wall of his rectum, it could lead to sickness, infection, even death in extreme cases. I think that anyone would rather suffer a few moments of pain over that."

Steve growls because once again the doctor is right, but Steve really doesn't like what it means. Steve sighs and looks down at Tony to see confusion and fear in his eyes, and realizes begrudgingly that they had been talking over him again. Steve feels his heart clench in his chest, and what he wouldn't give to just stop this all right now

"Fine," he says to the doctor, "Just let me explain it to him, at the very least."

Steve swallows his emotions and leans down to be eye level with Tony. He gently canters his hand through Tony's hair and whispers, " _Tony? I'm sorry, little one, but it looks like the next part of this isn't going to be any fun. The doctor needs to be able to look inside you down there. He has to make sure you're not hurt because the effect of any injury down there can be very bad, but with how sensitive you are this will more than likely hurt."_

Tony just looks up at him quietly, soft tremors running through his form, before laying his head down on the table, but he still kept eye contact, " _If...if you feel it needs... to be done...Steve."_

Steve swallows hard, but looks at the doctor. Doctor Mayer just nods, takes the instrument from his nurse, and sets to it. From Steve's vantage he can't see what the doctor is doing, but there is no way in hell he is moving now. So he trusts the doctor to do his job - a thought that makes his blood boil - and stays where he is for Tony's sake.

The doctor is being careful but mercifully quick this time, and Steve is very thankful for the fact. He watches Tony intently as Doctor Mayer works, and he knows exactly when the doctor pushes the instrument in and opens it thanks to the twisting expressions on the boy's face.

Tony shifts slightly after a while, and mewls softly as a blush spreads over his cheeks. Steve doesn't need it explained to him to know Tony is horribly embarrassed about being spread open like that, and a part of Steve can't help but think how cute Tony looks blushing so delicately. Steve finds himself wanting to kiss Tony's full lips.

Steve doesn't though; in the current situation, it would be far too weird. He just continues to pet Tony's head, and occasionally swipes his thumb along the base of his skull.Doctor Mayer looks up at his nurse, "There is some minor tearing in the walks but nothing that looks serious, and certainly nothing life threatening," Steve catches the glance thrown his way, "I'll keep him on an antibiotic while the wounds are open, though."

Doctor Mayer turns his attention back to Tony but Steve can't see what he is doing. After a few moments, though, Tony eyes suddenly blow wide open, and a strangled cry leaves his lips and quickly fades into soft whimpers and whines.

Steve doesn't remember standing up, but he's now on his feet looking down at Doctor Mayer. To the doctor's credit he looks just as surprised as Steve feels, and Steve notices that the doctor has two fingers shoved into the hole created by the Speculum.

Steve glances down at Tony quickly, taking note that the boy is still moaning softly and trembling all over. The flush on his face has darkened a little, but other than that he seems fine. Steve looks back at the doctor, silently asking for an explanation, but the doctor isn't paying him any mind. Instead, Doctor Mayer twitches the fingers inside Tony and earns another strangled moan from the boy.

Doctor Mayer hums and a ghost of a smile pulls at his lips. He turns to his nurse and says, “His prostate is a little swollen and very sensitive. I don’t think it’s anything more than over stimulation to the gland, but make a note to keep an eye on it, anyway.”

Steve blinks, “Doctor? What just happened?”

Doctor Mayer looks at him, “Calm yourself, Captain. As I said his prostate is extremely sensitive, but I promise you that reaction was not one of pain. In fact, it was quite the opposite.”

Steve kneels down next to Tony again and starts petting his head, “So he enjoyed being touched like that?”

Doctor Mayer nods, “If how quickly his body responded is any indication, then yes- a lot actually.”

Steve just shakes his head. He really doesn’t want to think about that right now. The doctor doesn’t say anything else on the subject, instead saying, “Well, we’re almost done. I just need to do one more thing and he will be released into the Avengers' care,” as he removes his fingers from inside Tony.

Something wet coats the doctor’s fingers and shines in the light. It quickly draws both men's attention. The doctor rubs his fingers together as he looks at it, and he brings his hand to his nose to sniff it. A soft, pleased hum leaves his lips and he almost whispers, “It smells so sweet…”

Steve looks hard at the doctor, not too sure what to make about the sudden softening of his features, and asks, “What **is** it, though?”

Doctor Mayer jumps slightly in his seat, and looks at Steve like he just remembered the Captain is even there at all, “To be honest, I have no idea. Whatever it is, it’s viscous and slick, and he seems to be producing it himself, because I certainly didn’t use this much lube.”

Doctor Mayer looks back down at Tony’s bottom and hums softly. He turns and pulls something off one of the trays and gets back to work, but Steve can’t help but feel that whatever the secretion on the Doctor’s hand is it might be something important and it irks him a little that Doctor Mayer seems to just be brushing it off.

“Doctor? Don’t you think it would be wise to…I don’t know, take a sample of it or something? What if it’s dangerous to him or others?” Steve asks, trying to keep the bite out of his voice.Doctor Mayer blinks and gives Steve a rather scathing look, “I rather doubt it’s dangerous to him as it seems his body is producing it, but I guess sending a sample down to the lab couldn’t hurt. Nurse, get me a cotton swab so I can take the sample, maybe they can figure out what it is.”

The nurse pulls a long stick with a piece of cotton wound around one end out of a drawer and a plastic cylinder with a cap and hole in the bottom. Steve watches as she slips the cylinder onto the end so it would protect the cotton swab and then hands it to the doctor.

Doctor Mayer puts the device in his hand into his lap and takes the swab from his nurse. He quickly sticks it inside of Tony, being careful to keep the plastic cylinder out of the boy, and rubs it against the walls. Once satisfied he has enough he pulls the swab out, caps it and hands it back to his nurse. He looks back at Steve and says, “This next part will be very quick, and after this we’re done. He will feel a slight pinch, but it shouldn’t be painful.”

True to his word, Doctor Mayer sticks the device into Tony, a small gasp left the boy’s lips as he wiggles his hips slightly, and then the doctor pulls out the device and removes the Speculum and wheels the stool back. Tony is quick to shut his legs and whines softly, but looks up at Steve.

Steve doesn’t even give himself time to decode the look. He just picks up Tony and sets him down again so he is sitting on the table, grabs the shorts off the table next to the nurse; it occurs to him he still doesn’t know her name.

This close he can smell what Doctor Mayer was talking about. There's a very spicy-sweet smell hanging about Tony. If asked what it actually smells like, the most Steve would be able to do is shrug. It is like nothing he has ever smelled before, and yet it smells so good Steve can't stop breathing deeply though his nose to inhale more. He also is acutely aware of the fact that Tony is half hard, something he blames on the Doctor pushing against his prostate.

Steve kneels down to help slide the shorts over Tony's legs and suddenly becomes aware of a problem of his own. Steve feels the almost painful press of his erection against his thigh. He’s mortified to say the least, and very thankful for his military composure as he keeps helping Tony get dressed again. The only thing Steve can think is that his newfound “problem” has something to do with the smell of the secretion - which Steve notes is running down Tony’s thighs - and he knows he needs to do something about it quickly lest he completely freak Tony out, because his blue spandex uniform certainly will not help him hide it.

Steve tries everything he can think of that has ever been said to kill an erection, but nothing seems to work. Just as he is about to give up, Steve remembers something Clint told him - more than likely in jest - when he had first joined the team. Clint had said back then that there would be times he would be caught in a situation just like that, and if that was the case, to just think of Fury in a pink tutu. It had seemed a joke to Steve at the time, but out of other options and running out of time Steve tried it.

The picture of Commander Fury in a bright pink tutu like a little girl would wear comes to his mind, complete with the pink slippers and pink lace eye patch. The image is so complete horrifying it’s funny, and Steve is hard pressed not to break out laughing. It does the trick though, his mind instantly forgetting about the smell around him and how he wanted nothing more than to bend Tony over the table and do unspeakable things to him.

With a smile Steve finishes setting the shorts on Tony hips and stands back up to look down at the boy.  Tony’s cheeks are still red, and his eyes are blown open as he looks up at Steve. A soft whine leaves his lips again and he leans closer as Steve moves a little closer to pick him up, but a strong hand on Steve’s shoulder stops him.

Steve looks over his shoulder and meets Doctor Mayer’s eyes with a confused look. Doctor Mayer smiles that smile that sets Steve’s nerves on edge and says, “Captain, I need you to step out of the room for a moment. I need to speak with the boy quickly then you’re free to take him.”

Steve glares at him, “Why do I need to leave? Can’t you just talk to him with me here?”

Doctor Mayer returns the glare without flinching, “No, it’s a little something called Doctor-Patient Confidentiality. It won’t take long, but I need you to step out of the room.”

Steve wants to growl.  He doesn’t want to leave Tony alone with the doctor, but nods and turns from the room. The quicker they can get this done, the better.

He paces outside the door and just tries not to let his thoughts run in a circle. He can hear the doctor talking inside the room, but he is being too quiet for Steve to really hear what he’s saying. Steve realizes he’s eavesdropping on a private conversation, quickly stops, and tries to think of something else. Unabated the image of Tony’s flushed and panting face floods his mind again, and Steve literally slaps, himself earning a few odd looks for the few S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors milling about.

The door behind him opens again and Steve is quick to go back into the room without running when the nurse steps aside to let him in.

Doctor Mayer nods his head and says, “You’re free to take him back now, Captain. If you can give me a few minutes I can even walk back with you.”

Steve doesn’t say anything, just walks over and picks Tony up again. As he looks down he’s surprised to note that Tony’s face is no longer flushed. In fact he seems kind of pale and from the way he is quick to cover his body, apparently very self-conscious of his clothing now.

Steve decides that he really doesn’t like Tony dressed like that, and he is going to go get the boy something more decent to wear from his room. He states as much to the doctor, who only nods and walks out of the room.

Steve turns and walks out of the med-bay and down a few halls to his room. Tony looks up at him and opens his mouth like he is going to say something, but then thinks better of it and shuts his mouth again, looking down at his hands fisted in the bright red tank top.

Steve answers what he thinks Tony’s question was going to be, “ _We’re going to my room, Tony. I want to find you something more covering to wear._ ”

Tony just nods, and the rest of the trip is spent in silence. Once at his room, Steve opens the door with his hip and walks the few small steps to his cot. He sits Tony down on it and turns to his closet and starts ruffling through his few possessions. Everything he has would be way too big for Tony, and he was fairly sure that anything pants-wise he tried to cloth him in would just fall right off those slim hips. So Steve just grabs one of his army sweaters and turns back to Tony.

The boy puts his arms up in the air for Steve, and Steve slips it over him. He helps Tony to stand so it could settle all the way and even Steve is surprised at how big it is on him. The hem falling down to the middle of Tony’s thighs, the sleeves falling well past his hands, and the poor boy was basically swimming in the sweater, but holy cow, did he ever look so cute.

Tony looks up at him with wide, innocent eyes again, and Steve has to fight not to coo at him. Steve reaches out and ever so gently lays his hand on the side of Tony’s face, letting the boy lean into the touch. Tony doesn’t move after and just continues to stare at Steve, and Steve quickly becomes aware of how awkward this situation is.

Steve pulls his hand away and smiles down at Tony before leaning down and picking Tony up again. Tony shifts softly in his arms again, fisting one hand into Steve’s shirt and the other wrapped around his stomach. Tony looked even smaller now swimming in Steve’s sweater.

Steve can’t help the small, fond smile that spreads over his lips at the sight as he turns and walks down the hall at a rapid clip.

He gets back to the briefing room just as Doctor Mayer is leaving. The man spares him a small glance and shoots a feral grin at him before walking away.That grin sets Steve’s nerves on edge again, and he wonders what kind of hell he is walking into in that room. Maybe he should have come with the doctor.

Steve steels himself against anything and walks into the room where his team mates, Commander Fury, and Agent Coulson are waiting. They look up at him as one and Steve sees the smiles on his team mates faces and the usual looks on Commander Fury’s and Agent Coulson’s faces, and has no idea what is going on.

The confusion must show on his face because the smiles quickly fade and Commander Fury is quick to ask him what is wrong. Steve shifts slightly, and says, “It’s just that when I was outside the room, I saw Doctor Mayer come out and he just smiled at me in a way that I’d say just screamed ‘I just got you in trouble and there’s nothing you can do about it’ if we were middle school kids.”

Fury gives him an odd look and says, “Okay…well, as far as I’m aware, nothing of the sort happened. He simply came in and informed us of the results of the examination. Do you have a guilty conscious over something, Rogers?”

Steve shakes his head and hands Tony over to Clint, smiling brightly as Clint wraps his arms tightly around the boy and earns a small and adorable squeak, and takes his seat again, “No, not that I’m aware of, Sir.”

“Well then, I don’t see a problem. Anyway, according to the doctor, aside from a little overuse he seems to be fine. Agent Hill has already commandeered a facility for you all. It won't be very much like home, but it will serve it's purpose for now, and we will outfit it properly a little later. If there isn't anything else, you all are dismissed to Agent Coulson."

Steve sits up a little straighter, "Actually, Sir, I do have one request."

Commander Fury eyes him critically but nods at him to continue. Steve says, "Sir, I respectfully ask that we remove Doctor Mayer as Tony's Primary Care Physician."

The odd and confused looks he gets from everyone is almost funny to him, and Commander Fury says, "Explain."

The demand leaves no room for argument and Steve quickly does, "The doctor is very callous, to the point of it being a hindrance to his job. While I was in the examination room with Tony and him, Doctor Mayer showed very little care for how the boy felt about anything going on, often times doing things that startled, embarrassed, or even scared him with little or no forewarning even for me, and showed only disregard when he would hurt him. He treated Tony like he is a fully trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agent when it's clear he isn't, and I'd rather not think about what that did to Tony's mental state or what truly happened the first time Tony was with him, because I called the doctor on his mannerisms more than once while I was in the room. While the way he acted might have been fine with a trained agent, it was not suitable bedside manners for a civilian, and especially not for someone that had been in Tony's position before coming here.  So again, Sir, I respectfully ask that we remove Doctor Mayer as Tony's Primary Care Physician."

Steve knows he's just barely keeping his anger in check by the end of his little rant, but he can hardly find it in him to care. Commander Fury blinks a couple of times and just stares at him. He nods slowly and says, "You do know that Doctor Mayer is the only doctor we have that can speak German?"

Steve shakes his head, "I would rather have to have Barton, Romanov, or myself present at all of his appointments he might need, than to force Tony to have to go through another session with Doctor Mayer."

Commander Fury frowns, "The implications of that... what would happen if there was an emergency that needed your attention while he was in with a doctor?"

Steve glares at him, "We would figure something out, I'm sure, even if it means leaving him to take care of it. Most of your S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors are very smart, they would find a way to figure out how to communicate with him, but I would sooner not let another doctor near him than let Doctor Mayer touch the boy again."

Commander Fury glares hard back at Steve and asks, "You're not going to budge on this, are you?"

Steve shakes his head, "I know you're trying to help, Sir, but no, I won't."

Commander Fury almost groans, but catches himself, "Fine, for now I'll play along with your request. If that's all, then you all can leave."

A quick look around shows that no one has anything else they want to add, so as one the team stands and leaves with Agent Coulson taking the lead and Clint refusing to let go of Tony for the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, Kudos, and Subscribes are always appreciated.
> 
> Also because I really want people to know about it, [my tumblr again.](http://sweetliliumpoison.tumblr.com/)


	8. Thirteen Steps

The trip to the new compound is spent in complete silence, and it is early morning when the Avengers finally get to the base that is to be their new home. It is a small satellite compound just outside of Monticello, New York, about two hours from New York City. The compound is only meant to house a small S.H.E.I.L.D. team of no more than ten agents, but would do so as comfortably as any other S.H.I.E.L.D. compound and there is going to be more than enough room for the four Avengers, Agent Coulson, and Tony.

They receive a small surprise when they open the door and find that Agent Hill is still there, waiting on them. She doesn't stay though, just long enough to tell them where everything is and remind them of Commander Fury's rules before she's out the door and gone again, giving Agent Coulson a curt nod as she leaves.

After the door shuts behind her, every single Avenger realizes just how exhausted they are. Bruce leans against the wall, barely able to find it in him to keep standing, and Clint yawns loudly and shifts his hold on Tony so he won't drop him.

Agent Coulson looks around at the, rather suddenly, completely drained heroes and realizes just how much of a trying day they all had. For all their strength and heart, they are only human, and they don't have an unlimited reserve of energy. Agent Coulson looks around that the group once more and says, "Right then, let's get room assignments done first, then we can get something to eat and retire for the night."

The bedrooms are all down a single hall - useful for keeping the group together and quick response if something happens to one of them - and Agent Coulson assigns everyone a room. Agent Coulson is the first room on the right, Bruce directly across from him, Clint's is the room next to Bruce's, Natasha's next to Clint's, and Steve's room is the one next to Agent Coulson's with Tony's next to him. They each drop their bags into their assigned rooms quickly before returning to the main hall to wait for the others.

With that taken care of, they move back into the kitchen to see what they have. Steve opts to make a sandwich from the cold-cuts in the fridge, while Natasha takes an apple out of the basket on the counter, then grabs another when Agent Coulson gives her a hard look. Bruce pulls out the fixings to make some spaghetti, and Clint asks if Bruce doesn't mind making some for him too as he sets Tony down at the table. Agent Coulson walks over to the counter where Steve is making his sandwich and starts to make one for himself, as Steve says over his shoulder, " _Tony, Are you hungry?_ "

Tony flinches slightly and looks up at him though his lashes, " _I...I don't know...._ "

Clint head snaps up and he says, "How do you not know if you're hungry?"

Natasha glares at him as she walks over to stand in front of Tony, "Hush, Clint.  _Well, when was the last time you ate and what did you have, little one?_ "

Tony turns his eyes down to the floor and starts playing with the sleeves of the sweatshirt nervously, " _Um....I...I had some soup....and I don't really know, maybe two days ago...._ "

Clint hisses softly, and Agent Coulson turns around to look at Tony. Tony starts to shake softly as tears well in the corner of his eyes, and he hastily stammers, “ _I…I’m sorry! I didn’t mean_ \---“

Natasha quickly silences him before he can finish his sentence - she really didn’t want to listen to the poor boy apologizing when he did nothing wrong again - and says, “ _Steady, little one, steady. You’re not in any trouble. Now, obviously if that’s all you had for that long, then you must be hungry, can you agree to that?_ ”

Tony looks at her out of the corner of his eye, but nods his assertion to the fact.  Natasha catches Agent Coulson’s eye and a quick look passes between the two of them. It doesn’t need to be explained to either of them that Tony doesn’t want to voice his need because he’s afraid he will be punished. Both Natasha and Agent Coulson had seen this sort of behavior far too many times.

Steve walks over and kneels down next to Tony and lays a gentle hand on the boy’s leg, and says, “ _Ok then, Tony.  If you’re hungry, what would you like?_ ”

Tony pulls back and looks at Steve like the Captain has just threatened to beat him. The tears that had been stinging the corner of his eyes fall freely down his face. He stammers unintelligibly and breathes frantically. Steve pulls back and looks around the room for help, because he has no idea what just happened.

Natasha visibly flinches, and Agent Coulson has to fight hard to not cover his face with his hand. The Agent walks over to stand between Natasha and Steve and says sharply, “ _Steady. You’ll have the pasta, understand?”_

Tony blinks and looks up at him, but slowly starts to calm down and eventually nods. Tony casts his eyes back down to the ground as Steve stands up and looks at Agent Coulson, “Coulson, do you think it’s wise to just order him around like that? I mean---“

Agent Coulson looks at him hard and interrupts, “Captain, this boy has been abused for years. His life was more than likely very strictly monitored and controlled. He probably hasn’t had a choice in anything that happened to him since Hydra picked him up. If he was truly there as long as you said he claimed, it is almost guaranteed he’s completely institutionalized and doesn’t understand anything but the life he led. S.H.I.E.L.D. has seen this sort of thing many times before, and I have personally helped people who have been like this get back to a completely normal life, or as normal as someone with S.H.I.E.L.D. affiliations can be. I can’t tell you everything we’ll need to do because all cases are different but I can promise this, Captain: it will take time. We will more than likely have to play along to his old life at first, before very slowly working him back into a normal life.” Agent Coulson turns away from Steve for a moment and says, “Dr. Banner, please make the boy a plate of pasta as well. Make it light though, no sauce, I’m not too sure his stomach could handle something heavy right now.”

Natasha turns to Steve, who still looks so unsure of everything, and says, “Steve, I know how horrible it sounds, but I promise what Agent Coulson said is true. If you try to just make them better right away, make them live the life you feel they should, it might only end up doing more harm. They can’t process what’s happening to them and what people want from them, and it ends up causing a mental breakdown. If we ease him into it, little things first, then we can help get him back to normal. I promise.”

Steve looks at her sadly, “Are you sure, Nat? I don’t want to do this if we’re only furthering the illusion that he’s still a slave…”

Natasha smiles at him, “I’m sure, Steve, as Agent Coulson said, he’s dealt with this sort of thing before.  And honestly, I think that’s why Commander Fury assigned him to us and gave us such a remote location. Less out here to interfere and confuse him.”

Steve just nods, gets his plate, and sits down at the table, silently waiting for everyone else before he starts eating. One by one, they all finish making their food and sit down at the table to wait. Soon the only one left up is Bruce, who is dishing a small amount of pasta onto a plate for Tony.

He places the plate in front of Tony quietly before taking the open seat next to the boy. Everyone starts digging into whatever meal they have, but Tony sits there looking at the plate in front of him with his hands folded neatly in his lap. He licks his lips softly and glances around the table, but catches Natasha’s eye and quickly looks back down at his lap again.

Natasha sighs softly, causing the others to look at her, but she just ignores their questioning glances for a moment as she puts down her apple and says, “ _Tony, were you not allowed to eat with your masters?_ ”

Tony jumps slightly and doesn’t look at her as he says, “ _I….I was allowed to eat in the same room they were in at times, but only after they had all eaten…._ ”

Natasha nods and says, “ _Tony, look at me._ ” She waits a moment for him to comply, “ _Here you are required to eat with us when we eat, no exceptions. Do you understand?_ ”

Tony blinks a couple times, but nods. He picks up the plate from the table, slides out of his chair and knees on the ground next to Bruce’s chair. He puts the plate on the floor and pokes at the pasta for a moment.

Bruce looks between Tony and Natasha so confused it's almost cute to the assassin, and asks, “Someone mind telling me what just happened, please?”

Natasha looks at him for a moment and says, “He wasn’t allowed to eat when his Hydra master were, probably because they’d just give him the scraps that they didn’t want to finish. I imagine this has something to do with it too, but I’m not too sure.”

Agent Coulson gets up from his seat and walks around the table to kneel down next to Tony, “ _Is this something you’re old masters made you do, too?”_ he questions. Tony doesn’t look up at him, but nods, “ _Okay, we’re going to have to set a few ground rules here then. First: you will always look at someone when they talk to you. Second: as Natasha said, you will eat every meal with us. Third: no more eating on the floor; you will eat at the table where we can see you. Do you understand?”_

Tony looks up at him and says, “ _Yes, sir.”_

Agent Coulson gives him the barest hint of a nod before picking up the plate again and placing it back on the table, then leaning over and picking Tony up as well to put him back in his chair. Agent Coulson blinks once, but doesn’t say anything as he puts the boy back into his chair, “ _Now eat.”_

Tony does pick up a piece of the pasta with his fingers and quick shoves it in his mouth. Clint rolls his eyes at that and asks, “He doesn’t know how to use a fork?”

Agent Coulson is about to say something to shut him up, but suddenly Tony starts choking next to him. It shocks Agent Coulson and he looks down at the boy quickly. He kneels down so he is eye level with Tony, and helps him get the food out of his mouth, confusion and concern painting is face, “ _Tony, what happened?”_

Tony is still coughing and choking, but manages to calm down enough to say, “ _It…it burns…”_

If anything, that just confused them all even more. Agent Coulson frowns and looks around at the Avengers before his eyes fall on the plate again. He sighs softly and says, “ _Tony? You’ve never had a hot meal before, have you?”_

Tony looks up at him, tears streaming down his face again, and just looks confused. Agent Coulson just nods and says, “Yeah, he hasn’t. Crap, Captain, take the plate and run it under some cold water in the sink to cool it off. I didn’t realize that he probably hadn’t had anything even remotely hot.”

Steve grabs the plate and does as he asks. Agent Coulson turns back to the boy and says, “I feel horrible, I should have realized that anything he would have had probably wouldn’t have been good at all, and not hot.”

Steve walks back over and sets the plate down in front of Tony again as he says, “Don’t beat yourself up over it, Agent Coulson. I don’t think it occurred to any of us. _Here, Tony, try this.”_

Tony does reach out and tentatively picks up another piece. He brings it to his mouth again and gently places it on his tongue. When he doesn’t instantly recoil and start choking again, they figure it's safe to let the boy eat and go back to their food.

The rest of the meal was spent in silence, with everyone occasionally throwing a glance at Tony to make sure he ate. Once satisfied that everyone had eaten, Agent Coulson shuffled them off to bed, but Natasha stays behind for a moment.

Agent Coulson stares at her and she meets his gaze unwaveringly for a few minutes. Eventually she sighs, “We’re going to have our work cut out for us, aren’t we?” she asks him softly.

Agent Coulson nods gently and replies, “More than likely. It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen someone as… broken as him.”

Natasha looks at him, almost sadly, and asks, “What do you mean?”

Agent Coulson frowns, “To be honest, Natasha, I don’t think he can really differentiate us from his old masters. He knows that we're not the same people, but his mind insists on viewing us in the same light. All he knows is obeying and suffering and that….It’s not like what happens with enemy agents that are trained to get information or eliminate a target: yes, they are broken in their own right, they’re trained to obey their handlers, but this…. It’s all new. I’m not really too sure how to help him get past that.”

Natasha looks away from Agent Coulson’s searching eyes, and the agent knows he didn’t imagine the tears in her eyes. Natasha still won’t look at him as she asks, “Do you really think it was that bad, what they did to him?”

“I know Fury still had his reservations about the boy when he sent me here with all of you, I’ll even admit I did too, but I’m convinced now he’s nothing more than he seems. You know from experience that no one can fake being that broken.”

Natasha looks back at him again, the sadness in her eyes sharp and surprising, and she can barely manage to get out, “Coulson, we have to help him. I just can’t watch him suffer like that…”

Agent Coulson reaches out and lays a hand on her arms lightly. He is always shocked when she confides in him her moments of weakness, and he has never and will never turn her away when she needs him.

Agent Coulson makes sure to look her dead in the eyes as he says, “Seeing him like this must bring back such horrible memories for you, Natasha. I can understand why you want so badly to help him. And we will help him. I won’t stop until that poor boy can lead as normal a life as he is able.”

Natasha nods gently, quickly composing herself as best she could. Agent Coulson gives her a critical eye and says, “Are you going to be okay to sleep, Agent Romanov?”

Natasha nods again, “Yes, I should be. If the nightmares are too bad, I can always go to Agent Barton’s room. I’m sure that’s why you put us right next to each other…as usual.”

Agent Coulson gave her a wry smile, “I’m sure I have no idea what you are referring to, Agent Romanov.”

Natasha graces him with a small laugh, and Agent Coulson gives her a rare smile, “But seriously, you and Agent Barton are still my charges, and I will still take care of you to the best of my abilities, on both a professional and personal level. I have been since the day Agent Barton chose to save you from the Red Room, and I will continue to until I no longer can. But come on now, we both need to get some sleep.”

Natasha nods, and they both leave the kitchen in silence. In the hall they see Steve coming out of Tony’s room, where they assume he had helped the boy get ready for bed, and he gives them a small nod as he retreats to his own room for some much needed rest.

Agent Coulson stops outside his door and watches Natasha walk down to her own. She stops just long enough to look over her shoulder and nod once to him before walking into her room and shutting the door firmly behind her.

Satisfied that she will be all right Agent Coulson enters his own room and quickly changes out of his suit, falling onto his bed. His last thought before sleep claims him is, ‘This is going to be hell on everyone involved.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, Kudos, and Subscribes are always very much appreciated.
> 
> [My tumblr](http://sweetliliumpoison.tumblr.com/) for those interested. I try to update it once a day.


	9. Been A Long Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm sorry I've been gone for so long. For those of you that follow [my Tumblr blog](http://sweetliliumpoison.tumblr.com/) (with all the scant updates it has) my laptop died on me and I lost everything. The good news is for those of you that follow both Polychromatic Angel and [Broken Mirror](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1048261/chapters/2096555), you are getting a double update today, dearies.

Tony wakes to the hazy feeling of warmth surrounding him. Confusion slips to fear as he tries to figure out what is going on. The last time he had woken up warm in a soft bed, his Masters had decided to make a day of using the playroom to test his limits.

Tony is terrified to open his eyes. He doesn't want to see his Masters gathered around the bed again, watching him sleep. He doesn't want to endure another endless session of pain and terror as they all do everything they can to make him scream, all the while telling him he will be punished if he does. He doesn't want to feel the way their eyes trace over his flesh as he twists and struggles against the chains.

Slowly, Tony realizes that there is nothing to indicate another person anywhere nearby. The only thing he can hear is his own frantic heartbeat and barely controlled breathing. Cautiously, still terrified out of his mind, Tony opens his eyes and glances around the room... only to realize he doesn't recognize the room at all.

As the fog of fear slowly clears from his mind, he starts to remember. He remembers the loud noises outside his room, and learning that his Masters had fled, leaving him alone. He remembers Masters Steve and Clint and Mistress Natasha coming into the room and questioning him. He remembers Mistress Natasha telling him that he was to go with them. He remembers Master Steve taking him to the playroom - but for the first time he can remember, not for a session - and how he had carried him. He remembers feeling so very safe and warm in both Master Steve's and Master Bruce's arms, and he remembers the unusual ride when they left his Master's home; Tony swears they were flying through the air. He remembers the ship they hand landed on and tries not to think about that horrible place with the horrible doctor.  He remembers how they had come to the new place, how the first thing they had done was let him eat, he remembers how Master Steve brought him to this room and laid him on this bed and told him to sleep.

Tony looks to the end of the bed where Master Steve had placed the thick sweater last night, staring at it as he tries to calm down and just focus. He becomes aware of the sounds of movement from the room next to the one he's in. He realizes that the sounds mean his Masters are awake.

Again he has no idea how he is expected to act. With his old Masters he knew he could wait for one of the soldiers to wake him, and he could either lay there with his eyes shut or even go back to sleep if they had not come yet; but back in his training at A.I.M. he was expected to be awake and on his knees in the center of the room before his trainer came to collect him. If he was still asleep or somehow off center when the trainer came, it would mean an excruciatingly painful punishment and no meals for the day.

Tony sits in bed debating what to do. This new territory with his new Masters still confuses him, and though the rules they set out last night - so different from everything he is use to - help, they do not state what is expected now. Not even last night when Master Steve had brought him to this room had he given any indication on how Tony is supposed to act now that he is awake.

Normally he would just default to his training if there is a situation where he doesn't know how to act, but it seems doing so only serves to upset his new Masters, though they have not lashed out at him yet.

The sound of a door opening and closing down the hall makes him act. Tony slides out of the bed and lands harshly on the cold floor. A soft cry leaves his lips at the stinging pain the move caused and he's fairly sure he just cut his right knee, but he simply crawls to the end of the bed. He has just enough time to position himself at the end of the bed with his legs folded beneath him and his hand resting on his thighs as he was taught before the door is thrown open.

Master Bruce stands in the door frame looking rather haggard, while Master Clint stands just behind him. Tony quickly looks down at his hands, not wanting to get into trouble for looking at his Masters without permission.

His Masters speak quietly in English before one walks over to him and kneels down. A hand gently but firmly tilts his chin up. Tony doesn’t resist - a slave must always suffer the whims of his Master - and he doesn’t quite look Master Clint in the eyes - it is disrespectful of a lower life form to look a human in the eye - exactly as he was trained.

Tony swallows softly as Master Clint looks hard into his eyes. Master Clint frowns and says, “ _Tony, how did you get out of bed?_ ”

Tony squirms slightly under the intensive glare, looks down as much as he can, and responds softly, “ _I climbed down, M… Clint,_ ” he has to remember his Masters don’t like being called Master.

Master Clint hums and says in a voice that bears no room for argument, “ _you didn’t climb down, you fell out of bed._ ”

Tony flinches, unable to tell if Master Clint is mad or not, but nods. Master Clint doesn’t say anything, just picks Tony up and carries him out of the room. Back in the kitchen the rest of his Masters are already gathered around the table, and Master Clint sits Tony down in the chair he had been assigned last night.

Tony locks his knees together, folds his hands back in his lap, and bows his head. Master Clint says something to Mistress Natasha before sitting down in the chair next to his. This time he doesn’t force Tony to look at him and Tony is grateful. He knows he has upset his Masters again and he doesn’t want to see the disappointment in their eyes because he can’t be a good slave to save his life. He doesn’t understand why it’s so much harder to be good for them than his old Masters: all he wants is to make his Masters happy for the time he will be with them, that is the entire purpose of a slave.

Mistress Natasha kneels down in front of him. She opens the box that she placed at her feet and speaks softly, “ _So, Tony, Clint tells us that you tried to get up on your own. Why did you think that was a good idea?_ ”

Tony looks down at her hands working deftly to tend to the cut on his knee. He hisses softly as she applies some liquid that makes the cut sting, but says, “ _I thought if I got up and ready before someone came to wake me, it would make it easier on you all._ ”

Mistress Natasha nods as she wraps the cut with a strip of cloth, “ _Logical in a way, I suppose, but it doesn’t seem to have worked too well._ ”

Tony flinches and quickly says, “ _I’m sorry, I did not know the bed was so much higher than the one I used to sleep in. I did not mean to cause you trouble; you don’t have to take care of it, I’ll be fine on my own._ ”

Mistress Natasha holds a finger to his lips as she finishes wrapping his leg and Master Steve says, “ _We need to take care of it, Tony. You are bleeding now, and we don’t want the cut to get infected. Besides, you are our responsibility now._ ”

The man from last night nods his head and says, “ _Indeed, you are. If you are hurt we will make sure that it is properly taken care of._ ”

Tony nods but doesn’t say anything else. He spares a quick glance around at his Masters to gauge their reactions. His eyes linger on the man next to Master Steve, and Tony realizes that he does not know the man’s name or even if he is one of his Masters. Though the more he thinks about it, it is fairly obvious this man is one of his Masters. Maybe even the leader like Master Zemo, from the way his other Masters default to his command.

Coulson watches Tony as Natasha packs up the med-kit and stores it back under the sink.  He’s not blind to the way Tony keeps throwing little glances out of the corner of his eye at him, and wonders what the boy is thinking about. He knows that he can’t put Tony on the spot again, though. The poor thing is already so timid today and Coulson does not need his psychology degree to know the he is afraid of getting in trouble for getting hurt, a thought that slips ice into Coulson's stomach.

So Coulson tries to figure out what Tony is thinking without having to ask, but he is failing horribly at it. He gives up and turns to the Avengers, “Ok, the kid keeps looking at me out of the corner of his eye and I can’t figure out why. I don’t want to put the kid on the spot by asking him when he’s already so on edge, so do any of you know what he’s thinking?”

Steve looks between Agent Coulson and Tony. Now that Agent Coulson had drawn attention to it, Steve can see the boy's eyes dancing between his lap and Agent Coulson's chest as well. He looks around at his teammates, but everyone looks just as confused as he is.

Clint sighs loudly and says, “We’re going to wish the kid has a little bubble over his head that will tell us what he’s thinking or needs before long, aren’t we?”

Steve will never admit it out loud, but he has a feeling Clint is right. It’s a thought that makes his heart ache unbearably, because it just drives home the fact that the poor boy who is too afraid to even look someone in the eye has more than likely spent his entire life as little more than someone’s play toy.

Steve sighs softly and says, “Ok, it’s fairly obvious that none of us know what’s going on. Natasha, do you mind asking him? I don’t want to say the wrong thing and freak him out again.”

Natasha nods at him and kneels down in front of Tony again, “ _What’s wrong, dragotsennyy?_ ”

Tony jumps a little and looks up though his eyelashes at her, “ _Wha….what do you mean, Natasha?_ ”

Natasha frowns, “ _You keep shifting your eyes at him_ ,” She nods in Agent Coulson’s direction, “ _We’re all wondering why._ ”

Tony voice cracks as he says, “ _I’m sorry,_ ” and Steve has to shut his eyes against the painful pulse of his heart as Tony once again apologies when he has done nothing wrong, “ _It’s just…he’s still here…I don’t….is he one of my…_ ” He trails off like he can’t think of what it is he really wants to say.

Coulson straightened up a little as what Tony wants clicks into place for him. He walks over and lays a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder, “ _Yes, little one. I’m one of you caretakers now. I’ll be staying here for as long as I can._ ”

Tony keeps his eyes focused on his lap and says, “ _O…Ok…What do you want me to call you?_ ”

Coulson frowns. He knows there is something more to that question and it actually scares him. Before he could say anything though, Clint says, “Oh, damn it. He’s been around the kid for almost a day now, and no one has bothered to tell the kid his name!”

Coulson glares at him, and Clint is quick to huddle in on himself and give him a slightly apologetic smile.  Coulson turns his attention back to Tony and frowns again, “ _Tony. I believe I told you when you speak to someone to look at them._ ”

Tony flinches, but looks up at him, another apology dying on his lips as Coulson just starts talking, “ _As for what you can call me, Phil is fine._ ”

Tony nods and whispers, “ _Yes, sir,_ ” as he casts his eyes back down at the floor.

Coulson frowns but lets it slide, knowing it would take some time to break Tony of these habits. Instead he turns to the rest of the group and says, “Well, now that that is taken care of let’s get some breakfast going.”

The flurry of movement at his words shocks even Coulson,  but he just turns Tony chair so it’s facing the table and sits down in the chair next to him to wait for the team to get what they wanted.

There is a short discussion over what they could give Tony for breakfast before it’s decided that they will give him some dry toast, a few pieces of Honeydew melon, and a glass of water, and hope the melon won’t upset his stomach. Steve even asks what Coulson would like and prepares it for him.

Tony shifts uncomfortably, the hard chair aggravating his sore bottom. He forces the memory of why he is so sore to the back of his mind, ‘don’t think about it, don’t remember it, you can play pretend if you don’t,’ and steals a quick glance around the room. He quickly looks back down as his Masters walk over to the table, though.

With his head down he doesn’t see one of them walk up to him, and he nearly jumps out of his skin when they place a small plate down in front of him. Tony looks down at the plate of toast and bite sized fruit pieces, then up at Master Bruce who had placed the plate in front of him, before looking back down at the plate and just sitting there.

Tony is so confused. He was fed just last night, and had done nothing but mess up all morning, even getting hurt and making his Masters have to take care of him again, but here they were rewarding him like he had done something special. Was this some kind of trick? Would they punish him if he ate any of it? Or did they expect something of him before they would allow him to touch anything?

Master Steve is suddenly kneeling in front of him and Tony berates himself for letting his focus slip so much that he didn’t see his Master move. He has been a slave for so long now, and he should know better than that.

His Master’s sharp blue eyes bore into his with a look that Tony doesn’t understand. Tony hiccups and realizes his face is warm and wet from his tears. Master Steve’s voice is very soft when he speaks, “ _Tony, hey, what’s wrong little one?_ ”

Tony just looks down at his lap while another choked sob leaves his lips. He doesn’t want to get hurt so soon, but he would be powerless to stop them if they tried. So Tony just sits there waiting because it’s all he can do as a good slave, and he will be a good slave for his Masters, it’s all he knows.

Master Steve reaches out and lays a hand against the side of his face, gently tilting Tony’s head up as he swipes his thumb ever so carefully against his cheek, “ _Tony, we really are in the dark here. We have no idea why you’re crying. Please talk to us- what’s wrong little one?_ ”

Steve watches as Tony chokes down a sob and flinches back from the touch, but still doesn’t move. Steve’s heart clenches and he looks around to the team desperately, but for once even Natasha and Agent Coulson seem just as confused as he feels.

Tony’s wide eyes look up at Steve threw his lashes and in a voice so small Steve almost misses it he asks, “ _I…You fed m...me just last…night. Wha….What do you….want me t…to do?_ ”

Steve blinks and looks over at Agent Coulson, “Does he think that he’s expected to…. perform,” Steve spits the word out like it is something truly vile, “Before we allow him to eat?”

Coulson stands and walks around the table to them as he says, “More than likely. Don’t forget, Rogers, he was a sex slave. I wouldn’t put it past Hydra to withhold things like food, water, and sleep if it meant keeping him in line and submissive. Maybe even use them as a reward system, better food and a chance to sleep longer if he performed to task.”

Coulson looks down at Tony, and says, “ _Tony, look at me._ ”

Tony flinches again, but looks up at him. Coulson firmly holds his gaze as he says, “ _Under no circumstance will we ever deny you the basic necessities of survival. You will not be expected to do anything to receive food, water, sleep, clothing, or a shower. Do you understand?_ ”

He waits for Tony to nod but doesn’t force him to say anything. Instead he says, “ _Good. Now, go ahead and eat your fill, and don’t worry about finishing it, it’s fine if you are unable to do so._ ”

Tony looks back down at the plate, carefully picks up one of the little halves of toast, and brings it to his mouth. He eats it slowly and swallows hard before grabbing another piece.

Coulson doesn’t miss the way Tony’s eyes dart around the room as he does so, and though he keeps his face neutral, always so careful to never let his emotions show, it’s slowly breaking his heart to see just how broken this boy is. Tony feels like he’s breaking the rules eating the food he has been given, because he probably has never been allowed two meals in a row before.

Tony chokes a little on the second piece so Coulson pushes the glass of water a little closer to him and simply nods when Tony gives him a (adorable) confused look. Tony’s hands shake as he reaches out to the glass, but he doesn’t spill a drop as he brings it to his lips and takes a few small sips.

Coulson is satisfied that Tony knows what is his and that he can eat and drink without punishment and moves back to his own chair to eat his breakfast. He catches Steve worried eyes on the way and says, “Just leave him be for now, all of you. The longer you watch him the more he’ll feel like he’s doing something wrong, and he won’t eat everything he can or should. You all need to eat too, especially since we got such a late start today.”

One by one they settle down and go back to eating, and while Tony can’t finish everything - the fruit upsetting his stomach and almost making him throw up - Coulson is happy that at least the boy ate in the first place.

Overall, breakfast isn’t a complete disaster in Coulson’s book even if they didn’t eat until almost noon, and the group retires to the living room to just relax the rest of the day. It seems to go well, though Tony is obviously very uncomfortable with everything and not sure if he should be sitting in a chair, though he seems to accept it well enough.

At two the doorbell rings, and everyone is instantly on edge. Coulson is not aware of anyone coming over, so instantly ever muscle in his boy tightens up and he’s ready for a fight.

He calmly gets up, motions for the Avengers to stay in here with Tony, who is obviously very confused and scared, walks into the hall and grabs his gun out of the drawer by the door. Making sure it is loaded, he flips the safety off, and looks out the window and he holds his gun by his side but out of sight.

The woman standing outside doesn’t look like much. She’s fairly short, her dirty blonde hair is styled in a pixie cut, and while she isn’t in the best physical shape she isn’t overweight either. Coulson can see slightly defined muscles in her arms, exposed by the light blue tank top she’s wearing, and her jeans seem to cling to her slightly muscular legs,  tucked into knee high riding boots.

She sees Coulson looking out the window at her, and smiles a bright smile at him as she holds up her S.H.I.E.L.D. identification card and medical badge identifying her as Doctor Clara Honey.  Coulson relaxes as he recognizes her name. While he has never gone to see her himself, he has heard of her around the Helicarrier and knows she is one of the best doctors S.H.I.E.L.D. has to offer.  Though he is slightly confused as to why she isn’t in her uniform.

He makes sure the safety is on on his gun, and opens the door for her. She smiles warmly at him again and says, “You must be Agent Phil Coulson,” she notices his gun, “Oh, did you not know I was coming? I thought Director Fury told you that Tony’s doctor was being changed out.”

Coulson nods, “Yes I am, and no, we didn’t know you were going to be coming here. We knew his doctor was being changed, but not that you would be showing up at the base personally.”

Doctor Honey nods in understanding, “Ah, ok. My apologies then, Agent. I guess this is a little off the books, but I wanted to actually meet Tony. One can only learn so much about a person from a file folder and a glance across a room, after all.”

Coulson blinks, “I suppose that’s true. May I ask why you’re not in uniform?”

Doctor Honey looks down at her clothing and laughs slightly, “Oh, well, as I stated before, I saw him in the med lab before with Doctor Mayer, and I noticed that he looked highly uncomfortable around all the agents and doctors. If his file is to be believed, then he’s more than like very scared to be around people like that, so I thought it might help if I didn’t wear the uniform so he doesn’t feel the need to be so on edge with me.”

Doctor Honey looks back up at Coulson with another one of her warm, sweet smiles and Coulson has to fight hard not to smile back at her. This woman is very appropriately named, it seems and she genuinely seems to care about Tony, so Coulson stands back and lets her in with a quick, “Follow me: everyone’s in the living room.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again my apologies for being away for so long. Remember, Kudos, Comments, and Subscribes are always welcome, and if you ever want to contact me on anything, I have yet to close my ask box on [my Tumblr blog.](http://sweetliliumpoison.tumblr.com/) Feel free to drop a line there and I will be sure to get back to you as soon as I possibly can.


	10. Better Days

Coulson walks Doctor Honey down the hall to the living room. As he goes to enter the room, he almost walks right into Steve’s chest. He blinks once, takes a step back and looks around only to notice that all of the Avengers had moved at some point.

Steve has taken up post by the door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, and Natasha stands on the other side of the door leaning against the doorframe. Clint sits perched on the back of the sofa holding what looks like kitchen knives not quite out of sight; honestly, what did he think they’d be able to do? Bruce stands near the back of the room next to Tony’s chair - which they had moved as well apparently - ready to run if need be.

If Doctor Honey notices how on edge the heroes are, she manages her reactions very well. Instead of showing any fear, she smiles that infectious smile of her and says, “Hello, everyone! My name is Clara Honey. I’m Tony’s new doctor, actually I'm the primary care physician for all of you, come to think of it... anyway, I’m sorry for dropping by so unexpectedly, but I really wanted to meet him before I have to make any decisions that affect him.”

Steve looks at her and says, “Does Commander Fury know you’re here?”

Doctor Honey looks at him, her smile never faltering, and says, “Steve Rogers, right? Yes, I did inform Agent Hill that I intended to come by and see him, so I imagine he does.”

Steve nods, liking her already, “Yes, Ma’am. I’m Captain America. It’s good to meet you.”

Doctor Honey laughs again, soft and sweet like everything else about her, and says, “No, no- you’re Steve Rogers. I don’t care about who you become when you put that mask of yours on, when you fight for us all; all I care about is the man behind the mask, so you will always be Steve Rogers to me, no questions asked."

Steve is taken aback a moment. While he is used to being a public figure, everyone knows him as Captain America, and if you ask them who Steven Roger is most will just shrug, but here is this tiny little woman who can’t be any taller than Tony squaring up to him and telling him that she doesn’t care about the mask he wears so often that it might as well be him. Steve is actually slightly impressed.

Steve smiles and nods, “Of course. I supposed you want to talk to Tony now?”

Doctor Honey nods, “Yes, though I will need one of you who can speak German to stay with us. While I do know a little bit, I’m afraid that it’s not enough to actually be able to communicate clearly with him.”

Coulson, knowing how over protective the Avengers can be and how difficult it can make this for Doctor Honey, quickly says, “I can do that for you. I know this lot has some reports they need to finish anyway, and this would be a good chance for them to get that done.”

Doctor Honey nods happily, and Coulson has to usher the Avengers out of the room. Once they hear the last door shut behind them, Doctor Honey laughs again, “I was warned that they were unusually over-protective of Tony, but I didn’t think it was _that_ bad.”

Coulson looks at her and chuckles softly, “Honestly, I thought you didn’t even catch that.”

Doctor Honey laughs with him, “Oh, how couldn’t you? The tension was so thick Agent Barton probably could have cut it with one of his knives. If I had so much as twitched the wrong way during that, I probably would have been splattered on the wall.”

Coulson nods - this woman is far more observant than he originally thought - and says, “Well then, let’s get you talking to Tony before they get back. They could make it very difficult for you if they come back. Tony is… highly timid around them; Captain Rogers and Dr. Banner more so than any of the others. You’re lucky if you can get him to talk at all, but if they come back he’s going to clam up completely unless you order him to talk.”

Doctor Honey looks rather sad at that, “Hum, sad but honestly not that surprising. Though it is curious as to why that only seems to happen around Steve and Bruce…”

“Couldn’t tell you,” Coulson responds as they walk across the room and take a seat in front of Tony, who is trying to shrink back into his seat and make himself look as small as possible, “Let me introduce you first. _Tony, this is Doctor Honey. She’s taking over as your primary doctor._ ”

Tony’s eyes dance between the two of them for a moment and he opens and shuts his mouth a few times before saying something so quietly Coulson can’t make it out, “ _Tony_ ,” he says as gently as he can to not scare the child, “ _I’m going to need you to say that again, you were too quiet._ ”

Tony swallowed hard, but said a little louder, “ _She’s…she’s taking over?_ ”

Coulson nods, “ _Yes, Steve wasn’t too happy with how Doctor Mayer handled the situation when you went to see him, so he requested to have you doctor changed. Doctor Honey here is your new doctor; she wanted to meet you._ ”

Tony still seems so unsettled and Coulson is a little concerned as to why. Watching him closely he can see that Tony is shaking just a little and his eyes are wide. Doctor Honey hums softly and says, “Phil, did you introduce me as Doctor Honey?”

Coulson looks over at her and says, “Yes, I did. Is that a problem?”

Doctor Honey looks at Tony with a gentle smile, “Honestly I don’t know, but from what I’ve seen and how he’s acting right now, I daresay I think he’s afraid of doctors. I wouldn’t be that surprised, I’m fairly sure the Hydra doctors were not kind to him either, so he just might associate the word 'doctor' with someone else that wants to hurt him. Tell him that it’s fine if he just wants to call me Honey or even Clara.”

Coulson nods and turns back to Tony, but before he can say anything Tony asks, “ _Is…is she going to need to examine me, too?_ ”

Coulson looks back to Doctor Honey and says, “He wants to know if you’re going to need to examine him as well.”

Doctor Honey shakes her head no, “I know Doctor Mayer might be a little crass, but he is a good doctor and I trust the work he’s done- I don’t need to right now. I will a little later on down the line, though.”

Coulson says to Tony, “ _No she doesn’t right now, and she says that you can call her Honey or Clara. It’s her first name_.”

Tony looks up, “ _Cl…Clara?_ ”

Coulson nods, “ _Yes. You seem to be afraid of her as a doctor, so if simply referring to her Clara will help you distance her from that role, then she is fine with it._ ”

“ _Clara…ok, I can do that,_ ” Tony says again, and he unconsciously uncurls a little. Agent Coulson blinks a couple of times and says, “Well, I’ll be damned: taking the doctor title from you when it comes to him actually seems to have helped a little.”

Doctor Honey says sadly, “Yes, I figured it would. Shall we get right into this, then?”

Coulson gives her an odd little look but nods.

Doctor Honey smiles warmly, “Alright, let’s start with something simple then. Phil, can you ask him how he’s feeling today? See if he’s in any pain?”

Coulson turned back to Tony and relays the message. The boy looks confused for a moment but says, “ _I’m…I’m ok..._ ”

Coulson looks back at Doctor Honey, “I think that’s the most we’re going to get out of him. He says he’s ok.”

Doctor Honey nods, “I gathered, can you ask him again if he’s sure he’s not in any pain? I need to make sure. Also make sure he knows he’s not going to be in trouble if he is.”

Coulson again asks Tony, and Tony blinks, looks once at Doctor Honey, who smiles warmly at him and nods encouragingly. Tony seems to think it over for a second before saying, “ _My…my back’s still a little sore and my knee hurts, but I’m ok._ ”

Coulson starts to relay the message to Doctor Honey, but the woman holds up a hand, “Hold on a moment please, I am trying to learn the language myself for him, so mind if I take a guess at what he said?”

Coulson shakes his head no, “By all means, if you wish to try.”

She smiles, “I’m guessing that he said something about his back and… knee, was it?”

Coulson nods, “Yes, he says that they are both bothering him. I imagine the knee is from this morning, though.”

Doctor Honey gives him a confused look, “And what happened that he’s already gotten hurt and he hasn’t been in your care a full day yet?”

Coulson says, “He apparently woke up before anyone went to check on him, and decided when he heard everyone moving around that he would try to get up on his own to make it easier on us. He ended up falling out of bed, not realizing how high off the ground it was, and cut his knee. We did disinfect and bandage it.”

Doctor Honey nods, “Good, as long as it’s been taken care of. Ok, he would know his body better than anyone, so does he feel like anything is a bad different?”

Coulson once again relays the message and Tony replies that he is ok, but after a little pressure he admits that his stomach feels weird, and Coulson explains that it might have to do with breakfast this morning, as it did make Tony feel a little sick.

Doctor Honey continues to ask Tony some general questions about himself, and slowly Tony starts to uncurl and calm down, and though he still doesn’t quite look Doctor Honey in the eyes, Coulson doesn’t miss the start of a smile curling the corners of his lips.

Just as they are finishing up, the Avengers decide to come back into the room. Coulson looks up at them and asks, “All done, then?”

Steve nods, “Yes, sir. Do you need more time?”

Coulson looks to Doctor Honey who shakes her head, “No, I think we’re good.”

Tony suddenly yawns loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. He ducks his head down, realizing that he is now the center of attention. He starts to shake softly again, but can’t fight another yawn as his eyes start drooping.

Doctor Honey smiles softly as she says, “I guess I’ve tired him out. Not all that surprising, I’m sure it’s been a fairly trying couple of days for him,” She looks around at the Avengers and says, “Why don’t one of you put him to bed so he can get some sleep now, then I need to speak with all of you before I leave.”

Steve quickly crosses the room in a few steps and so carefully picks up Tony and cradles him in his arms. He smiles gently and speaks softly to Tony. Tony quickly shifts in Steve’s hold and fists his hand into Steve shirt as Steve carries him out of the room.

Doctor Honey looks a Coulson with a softly cocked eyebrow and Coulson just shrugs in response before telling Clint, Bruce, and Natasha to have a seat. A few minutes later Steve comes back into the room and looks at Coulson, “We might want to consider either having some clothing for him shipped out to us, or asking to go out and get it ourselves. He can’t keep wearing the tank top and shorts with my sweater over them. His legs have to be freezing at this point, and I’m sure he’s very uncomfortable in how exposed he is without the sweater. Not to mention, they’re going to start smelling soon.”

Coulson nods and says, “I’ll be sure to speak to Commander Fury about it tonight when I call him. For now, take a seat; Doctor Honey has some stuff she wants to talk to us about Tony.”

Steve sits down next to Natasha and Clint says, “Ok, doc. The floor’s all yours.”

A small smile pulls at the corner of Doctor Honey’s lips at that and she says, “Ok, let’s start with what you all know. First: as you know, Tony was a slave to Hydra. Abused and used in any way they saw fit, he was taught how to best serve his masters, and had it veritably beaten into him that he was completely worthless for anything but an outlet for their anger and sexual frustrations on a daily basis.”

“Now, we managed to salvage some of the files off the computers that we found in the Hydra base when S.H.I.E.L.D. managed to take it, and found there was a surprising amount of documentation kept on Tony, the majority of it both surprising and horrifying.”

Steve perks up and says, “Do we have access to those files? They would certainly help a great deal when it comes to understanding Tony and helping him recover.”

Doctor Honey nods, “For the most part, yes, there have been some things - like the extremely explicit and vulgar journal entries written by his Masters and a few of the videos made because of their simply disgusting exposure - that have been classified to a doctorial level simply to save him some extreme embarrassment later on down the line,” she pulls out a flash drive from her bag and hands it to Coulson, “but what you have access to is on this. It is classified to level 7, standard password with a call for a reset when entered, so only you will all have access to it. You will find everything sorted into various file folders according to what they fall under.”

“Unfortunately, there is very little about where he actually comes from, only that he was the son of an enemy of theirs that was take when the rest of family was killed; in fact, they dehumanized him to the point where in the files it only mentions his name once, and that was because it was being mentioned that they couldn’t actually make him forget it. Most of the time they refer to him as Omega47 or in the case of the journal entries some extremely derogatory term, or simply their pet.”

“Now, in between them capturing him and the actual day that took him as a pet, we’ve only found vague hints that they might have sent him to A.I.M., though we’re not too sure on why; we’re assuming that Hydra had A.I.M.’s scientists probably physically change him to better suit their desires, though if there is any documentation of that it is all stored on A.I.M.’s computers. What we have gleaned from the Hydra files is that he went in as rebellious child and came out as a completely broken slave. We can only speculate on what he had to endure there.”

Bruce chokes, “Oh, our poor boy…”

Doctor Honey sighs and says, “That’s another thing. I believe that Tony told you he had been a slave for 20 years, correct?” she waits for the Avengers to confirm this, “Well, he was held for 22 years total between A.I.M. and Hydra, and here’s the kicker; he was 14 when his family was killed and he was taken. Your ‘boy’ is actually 36 years old now.”

Every single one of the Avengers and even Coulson look at her with a completely dumbfounded expression. Doctor Honey is silent as she lets them just absorb this information. Eventually Coulson shakes his head in disbelief and says, “You have got to be kidding…”

Doctor Honey shakes her head sadly, “No, I’m not. It’s why we believe Hydra paid A.I.M. to genetically alter him. Tony is really a 36 year old man, trapped in a body that doesn’t look like he could be over 16, and the mindset of a young child from the years of abuse he suffered.”

Coulson takes a steadying breath and says, “Ok… that’s… bad, to understate it, and it certainly threw me for a loop. What else is there?”

“Again, everything is on that flash drive, but is there anything specific you wish to know?”

Coulson shut his eyes and thought for a moment, “He’s absolutely terrified of doing anything wrong, almost to the point where I’m sure he’s given himself a few minor heart attacks when he thinks he’s screwed up. Can you tell us why?”

Doctor Honey actually shifts uncomfortably, but says, “That might have to do with the fact that he was often punished horribly for even the littlest slight, and sometimes punished for some made up thing because his masters just wanted to see him in pain. Each punishment was gruesome and violent, and from a few of the videos of punishment sessions I saw before I just couldn’t take anymore, it seemed like they would dredge up old things that the felt they hadn’t truly punished him for, or that they just felt like punishing him for again when they would get truly mad.”

“There were two punishments that stood out very vividly in my mind, simply for their brutality when the poor man had done nothing wrong; they are both mentioned in the files given to you, but neither video has been added. There was one time when he apparently was too tired to perform to the standards his masters had set for him, and could barely stay awake. The punishment for this slight was his masters gathering up something like 100 of their soldiers and let them gang rape Tony until the poor thing passed out, only to dump a bucket of cold water on him to wake him up and force him to continue until all of the gathered soldiers had their chance at him. Another time, one of his masters actually made up a slight - in the video you could clearly see that he had done everything his master asked - and as punishment he shoved a metal studded dildo into him that ripped him, then proceeded to use a nine tail whip that had little metal hooks scattered about the leather and a cattle prod to inflect as much pain as he possibly could on him, on _any_ part of Tony’s body he could hit.”

A loud snap suddenly makes them jump, and they look over to see Steve has broken the pen he was toying with - One S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists has specially made for him so that it wouldn't break if he gripped it too hard - while listening to the doctor talk. Steve was visibly shaking with rage, “If I ever get my hands on Zemo, I will break every bone is his body for what he’s done,” he practically hissed.

Natasha goes wide eyed at the threat and very subtly scoots a little closer to Clint.

Doctor Honey throws Coulson a wide eyed, terrified look, and Coulson sighs. “Captain!” His voice cut across the mounting tension easily, “As much as I might agree with you on what you want to do, you need to get a hold of yourself.”

Steve blinks and just looks at Coulson hard so Coulson says calmly, “I understand your anger, I feel much the same right now, but it does no good at the moment, so get it under control.”

Coulson hopes that Steve will calm down, but when it is clear the man isn’t he adds, “What would Tony think if he saw you like this? He’d be absolutely terrified, that’s for sure. Do you really want to be nothing more than his Hydra masters in his eyes, him afraid that you’re going to hurt him just because you’re that angry?”

It is a low blow, Coulson knows that, but he needs to get Steve to calm down before he does something stupid. It seems to have worked well. Steve has a look on his face like he had just swallowed a full ice tray.

Coulson says, “Good. Now, why don’t you all go and hit the showers and take some time to cool off.”

Coulson glares at them until they all walk out of the room. With a heavy sigh, Coulson turns to Doctor Honey and says, “I think that’s enough for now, they’re all starting to get worked up, and even I know that while they may seem calm and collected most of the time, they can really be emotional volcanoes. Push them too far, and you know someone is getting hurt.”

Doctor Honey nods sagely, “Not all too surprising. I can only imagine what they have to see on a daily basis, I would be worried about that if it didn’t affect them. They really do care for him; you can see that, plain as day.”

Coulson looks at her, “You don’t think such a strong emotional attachment when they’ve known him for less than a day is worrying?”

Doctor Honey stands up and brushes some dust off her pants. She looks Coulson dead in the eyes and says, “Agent, I would pick up a gun and go against everything I stand for as a doctor if it meant keeping that poor man from suffering like that again, and you can’t sit there and say that you don’t feel the same.”

Coulson graces her with a rare smile and says, “I wasn’t saying that, I was just wondering if you were on board with Commander Fury in worrying about it.”

Doctor Honey smiles her warm smile again and says, “I’m not one to march to Fury’s drum most of the time, actually. I have put my duties as a doctor and my feelings as a human above my job as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent on more than one occasion. Honestly, I think Commander Fury has come to like having my voice as an off set to his in that aspect, but don’t tell him I said that.”

Coulson shakes his head, “Of course not. Come on, I’ll walk you to the door.”

Doctor Honey nods as Coulson gets to his feet, “That would be appreciated. As for Tony, he’s going to be fine, I just know it. It will take some time, but he seems to actually be opening up to you all already, even for how timid he is. I’ll need you to bring him by my office in about two weeks, though; I want to just give him a once over then to see how he’s progressing.”

Coulson nods, “Does that mean we’ll need a trip back to the Helicarrier?”

“Sadly, yes,” Doctor Honey says, “But I can more than likely arrange all that for you.”

Coulson just nods once more as he opens the door for her. She steps outside and turns around once more, “If you need anything at all just give me a call. All my information, including my personal cell phone number, is stored on the flash drive. Have a good evening, Phil.”

Coulson blinks and says, “You’re going to insist on calling us all by our first names, aren’t you?”

Doctor Honey laughs, “It’s how I operate. I’ll see you in two weeks or so, then,” and with that she turns and walks down the path to her car, gets in, and leaves.

Coulson smiles softly and shuts the door, ‘Well, if nothing else, that woman really does live up to her name.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, Kudos, Comments, and Subscribes are always welcome, and if you ever want to contact me on anything, I have yet to close my ask box on [my Tumblr blog.](http://sweetliliumpoison.tumblr.com/) Feel free to drop a line there and I will be sure to get back to you as soon as I possibly can.


	11. Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Team building! Yay!

Steve sighs deeply as he lets the lukewarm water pound into his shoulders and run down his back. He bows his head, shuts his eyes, and tries to calm down, but he’s failing horribly. All his mind will show him is Tony sitting curled up in the corner again, chained to the wall and trying to make himself look as small as possible; Tony sitting on his bed shaking softly and waiting for something to happen; Tony in the kitchen this morning, crying and terrified because he doesn’t understand why he's being fed again.

The thought that he can’t protect Tony from what’s scaring him so badly is ripping him apart and making him feel so helpless, and Steve is silently thankful that the spray from the shower hides his angry tears. Steve balls his hands into fists and wishes that he had something he could punch, making a mental note to go find a gym in this place after he's done.

Steve reaches over, grabs the shampoo bottle, and pours a generous amount into his hand. Snapping the bottle shut, he raises his hands and quickly works the shampoo into a rich lather and just takes a moment to enjoy the feeling of his hands massaging his scalp and the slightly frizzy feeling of the lather cleaning his hair.

As he stands there he hears the door open and shut behind him. It is a communal shower with eight stalls and the only shower in the house so he isn’t all that surprised someone else is here. He looks around to see who it is and nearly chokes to see Natasha standing by the sink picking up her bathing supplies, clothed in nothing more than a towel.

Natasha turns around and notices him staring at her and cocks an eyebrow as she walks over to one of the stalls near the front of the room. “Really, Steve, are you still that embarrassed to shower with a teammate?” She asks with a small laugh as she turns the water on and takes her towel off.

Steve quickly looks away, “I was in the army, Nat. I’m use to showering with other people, yes, but I’m use to said people being MALE; the females tended to have their own bathroom,” He says as he tries to ignore the blush he knows is turning his face red.

Natasha just chuckles, “Well, we don’t have the luxury of two separate bathrooms here, Steve.”

Steve makes a soft, non-committal grunt, washing the soap out of his hair and quickly moving to leave. He hears Natasha sigh softly and say, “Steve, I understand you come from a different time and all, and that you’re trying to respect me - and trust me I’m trying to respect the fact that you’re not too comfortable with everything that’s changed - but I have to ask: you know why S.H.I.E.L.D. does it like this, right?”

Steve blinks and says, “I don’t know, I suppose it has something to do with space constraints…”

Natasha laughs outright at that, “Not quite, Steve. It’s a form of team building, actually.”

Steve cocks an eyebrow this time and turns his head just slightly so he can see the assassin out of the corner of his eye, “What are you talking about?”

Natasha laughs again, “I know as a team we haven’t been through a lot yet, but most S.H.I.E.L.D. teams are sent out into the field for long stints with little to no help from the Hive, so all you have is each other in those situations. It means you’ll have to be around them constantly, and when you’re in the field the last thing you want to do is take your eyes off your teammate; that’s how people disappear. Not to mention there is a very high chance that in this line of work, you and your team will be captured. If that happens, then you can damn well be sure that the people that captured you can and will do everything in their power to try and break you, which could include putting you in some very awkward situations.”

Steve remembers all that from the multitude of briefings he had to sit through after they pulled him from the ice and he decided that joining S.H.I.E.L.D. would be him best bet; for the moment anyway. He’s still unsure what that has to do with what they were talking about, though, and says as much.

“That’s simple, actually,” Bruce says from the door. Steve almost jumps out of his skin and looks over to see Bruce and Clint standing there. Bruce gives him a sheepish smile as Clint snickers softly.

Bruce gently elbows Clint in the stomach as he says, “Sorry about that, Steve.”

Steve waves it off, “I was too busy listening to Nat. So what exactly is so simple about it?”

Bruce and Clint move to their own stalls and turn the water on. Bruce tests the temperature as he answers, “This whole showering with the team bit is to help remove any awkwardness that might exist, for whatever reason.”

Clint laughs as he hops into the spray and gets his head soaked. He shakes his head like a dog would; earning a sharp “Clint!” from Natasha who is next to him; and says, “Yeah. Think about it Cap- when you have to shower with a person, you see everything. There’s really nothing to hide after you spend enough time doing that. It helps when you’ve been captured, too. A lot of time a captor will strip a person to keep them from trying to escape, because come on, what normal person would want to go running around naked as the day they were born, but if you’re already use to being around your team naked it takes some of the worry out of it, and if you’re comfortable looking at your teammate in a situation like that it makes communication easier as well.”

Steve blinks, “I suppose that does make sense.”

Natasha doesn’t give any outward signs but Steve can still hear the laugh she is suppressing when she speaks, “Still confusing you, Steve?”

Steve frowns and stubbornly looks away, “No, I’m not confused about it. It’s fairly simple to understand, really. I’m just not too sure if I’m completely comfortable with the idea yet.”

Clint laughs outright at that. Natasha hits him hard in the stomach and watches as Bruce covers his mouth with both hands to keep from laughing at them. She looks over at Steve who still will not look at her, sighs, and says, “Like I said; it’s fine. We understand, even if some of us feel like being immature about it,” She shoots Clint a hard glare, “We want to help you get used to it, but at the same time, I want you to understand that you can take all the time you need, Steve. There’s no rush to this.”

Steve looks at her out of the corner of his eye. Natasha smiles softly and Steve says, “Right, I can do that. I think I’m going to see if they have a gym here. I really want to work out right now.”

Natasha notices Coulson standing by the door out of the corner of her eye. He knocks lightly on the wall next to the door and says, “Hey, you guys mind if I join you?”

Clint looks over at him and smiles brightly, “Course, Phil. Come on in.”

Coulson walks over to the sink and starts to take off his tie and jacket. He looks at them in the mirror as he gets undressed and says, “So I just got off the phone with Commander Fury - called him right after Doctor Honey left - and I did speak to him about what you said, Steve. I have permission to take two of you tomorrow and go into town to get Tony some clothes.”

Steve perks up at that, and Natasha has to suppress another laugh. “That’s great,” Steve says enthusiastically, “Did he say who he wanted you to bring?”

Coulson shakes his head, “No, that was left up to me, but I choose you and Natasha. I hope you don’t mind.”

Steve shakes his head no, and Natasha nods. Coulson smiles at them, “Good, then that’s settled. So what’s going on in here?”

Clint laughs as he says, “Trying to get Cap used to the idea of showering with all his teammates.”

Coulson walks over to the stall next to Bruce but looks at Steve as he goes, “Ah, the whole 50s thing again?”

Steve cheeks start to turn red again and he says, “It really is a different world now; I’m still trying to get use to everything.”

Coulson laughs as he steps into the spray, “Good thing you never went to college, then. That particular lifestyle hasn’t changed at all.”

Steve looks at him and says, “What are you ta… you know what, never mind. I have a feeling I don’t want to know.”

Clint laughs and says, “That’s probably a smart idea, Steve. If you’re still struggling to understand the whole shower together thing, you really don’t want to know what hormonally imbalanced teens are doing without parental supervision.”

Bruce laughs and says, “Come on, Clint, no trying to break Steve’s mind.”

Steve blinks a couple of times, then rubs at his temples as he says, “The only thing I could think when he said that was a group of teens with his mindset running around an enclosed space…”

Clint nods for a moment before what Steve actually said suddenly clicks into place for him, and he shouts, “Hey!”

Natasha, Bruce, and Coulson can’t stop laughing at that, and Steve innocently smiles at Clint, who is trying his best to reduce Steve to a pile of ashes with his glare alone. Coulson calms himself down enough to say, “You walked into that one, Barton, and don’t deny it.”

Clint huffs angrily and crosses his arms over his chest looking away and staring at the wall instead.

Steve smiles at him and says, “Come on, Clint. Don’t be mad, you know I didn’t mean it like that.”

Clint just waves him off, “Yeah, yeah. I know you didn’t,” he turns and smiles at Steve, “Didn’t you say you wanted to go use the gym or something?”

Steve blinks and says, “You know, I don’t think I want to now. I think I’m just going to go watch a show on TV or something. You guys can join me after you’re done if you want.”

Coulson smiles and nods, Bruce chuckles softly, and Natasha says, “Sure thing. Why don’t you go and see if you can’t find something you like, and we’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Steve put his stuff away then left the room to get dressed. Coulson looks at the three remaining Avengers in the room and asks, “So, what happened before I got here?”

Clint laughs again, and Natasha sighs, “Really, Clint, do you always have to be so immature? Steve is still a little embarrassed about taking a shower with me, as I am a female and he is… well, older in his mindset. So we were explaining to him why S.H.I.E.L.D. has a team shower together.”

Coulson smiles, “Ah that makes a little sense, then. Should I guess that he didn’t take it too well?”

Bruce shrugs, “Actually, even for how fast he tried to get out of here, he seemed to take it fairly well. He at least seemed open to the idea, but did admit it would take him a little while before he could actually do it.”

Coulson nods and he ducks his head under the spray, “Well, at least he’s open to the idea, and I’m happy to see Clint didn’t break his mind with too much information.”

Natasha snickers and Clint laughs. “Oh, I was sorely tempted,” he said, “but Natasha hit me before I could, so I thought it was a really good idea to just shut up.”

Bruce looks between the three of them very confused, “Okay, what are you guys talking about?”

Coulson looks at him and says, “Well, this is something I know would confuse the Captain badly, but you seem to be pretty open-minded. A lot of the time this set up we have creates some pretty interesting… relationship structures within teams.”

Natasha nods, “Yeah, it’s also why S.H.I.E.L.D. agents don’t switch teams unless absolutely necessary. The bonds that are formed are very hard to break, and when you’re forced to leave someone you care about behind and probably never see them again, it hurts a lot. Even the toughest of us can be effected.”

Bruce blinks, “Wait…are you guys talking about…”

Clint laughs, “Yes, Bruce, we’re talking both emotional and sexual relationships. Hell, the team we came from before we joined the Avengers was very much like that. It was a very open relationship between the entire team. It was very helpful because you always had someone, and no one was really ever alone.”

Bruce nods, “Okay,” He turns to look at Coulson, “Did you know about all that?”

The man laughs softly, “I would certainly hope so, Doctor Banner. I was a part of their team, after all. Is this too much for you?”

Bruce shakes his head and smiles gently, “No, I guess on some level I kind of knew about Clint and Natasha, and like you said, I do try to keep an open mind about everything. If it helps you guys cope I’m all for it, but you’re right- we shouldn’t tell Steve about that just yet. I think he’s having enough trouble adjusting as it is.”

They smile at him, and Coulson says, “That’s the general idea.”

Clint looks over at Coulson, “Hey Coulson, there’s something I want to check on that flash drive, do you mind if we crack it open?”

Coulson frowns and give Clint a hard look, “What exactly do you feel is so important that you want to check it now?”

Clint smiles disarmingly at him and says, “Will, since you, Nat, and Steve are going to be gone tomorrow, I was thinking maybe Bruce and I could give Tony a bath. It’s been at least two days since the kid had one, but if his Hydra Masters used any sort of water torture on him I really want to make sure that we’re not going to do something that’s going to give him a heart attack.”

Natasha looks at him, “That’s actually a really smart idea, Clint.”

Clint sticks his tongue out at her and says, “Don’t sound so surprised. So what do you think, Phil?”

Coulson nods, “I don’t see a problem with that, and good thinking ahead about checking that sort of thing, Clint. Come on, let’s finish up. Steve’s waiting on us, and we should fill him in on with Clint wants to do and that we’re going to unlock that flash drive.”

They quickly finish showering, then part ways to head to their rooms and get dressed.

Coulson decides to check on Tony before heading to the living room. He knocks lightly on the door just in case the boy…no, man is still asleep. It is going to take some time for them to wrap their heads around the thought that Tony is really over 30 years old.

Coulson doesn’t hear anything from inside the room, so cautiously he opens the door just enough for him to stick his head in. The room is dark with the shades drawn tight to not let any light in, and he can just make out the form huddled under the blankets.

He walks over to the bed. Tony has curled up in a ball as tightly as he possibly can, and despite the fact that Coulson can’t even imagine how being that crunched up is comfortable, Tony is sleeping peacefully.

Coulson gently brushes a strand of dark hair off Tony’s face and takes a moment to study his features. Without caution and fear twisting his face and forcing him to keep his eyes on the floor, Tony’s face is almost delicate. The ghost of a smile pulls at Tony’s lips and Coulson wonders what Tony is dreaming about.

He walks around to the other side of the bed and carefully pulls the blanket away to look at the man’s back. It seems that Steve has removed Tony’s clothing for some reason, and his heart twists in his chest as he looks at the marks that litter the exposed flesh. He runs a finger down one of the marks as carefully as he can, but hisses as even the smallest amount of pressure there causes the skin to split beneath his fingers.

Tony whines softly in his sleep and twists away slightly. Coulson quickly casts his eyes around for something he can use as a cloth against Tony’s back to stop the bleeding.

“Use the tank top,” Steve says from the door. Coulson snaps his head in the direction of the door, and Steve continues, “They’ve apparently been splitting open on him a lot, but we’ve never noticed because of the red of the shirt. I only noticed earlier when I went to lay him down and noticed the wet spot on my arm.”

“He didn’t mention it to Doctor Honey or me earlier,” Coulson says as he grabs the tank top and puts a little pressure on the cut.

Steve leans on the door frame, “Are you really all that surprised he didn’t?”

Coulson shakes his head sadly, “No.”

It doesn’t take very long at all for the cut to stop bleeding and Coulson pulls the tank top away carefully making sure the dried blood doesn’t catch on the skin and cause any of the other cuts to start bleeding as well. He carefully pulls the blanket back up and covers Tony’s shoulders again, thankful that Tony never woke up.

As Coulson looks down at the tank top in his hands he can clearly see where Tony’s blood has discolored it now. He sighs as he carefully folds it again and sets it off to the side, “I’ll call Doctor Honey tomorrow morning and see if she wants to do anything about them. She’ll probably just have us keep them bandaged until they heal, but better safe than sorry.”

“I hope you’re right,” Steve says as they start walking down the hall, “I can’t even imagine what someone coming at Tony with a needle would end up like.”

Coulson just hums softly, not wanting to think about it himself, and asks instead, “So why did you come down here?”

Steve smiles, “The rest of the gang joined me in the living room and told me what you had talked about in the showers. We were waiting on you, but you were taking so long I figured you had stopped off to check on Tony. So I came to find you and make sure everything was okay.”

Coulson fights the smile he knows wants to pull at his lips. He knows the real reason Steve came to find him is because he wanted to check on Tony too, but keeps it to himself. Coulson says, “So, do you feel like unlocking the drive now or do you want to skip out on it?”

Steve looks away for a moment, “I don’t know, I mean part of me wants to know because I want to help, but another part of me just has kind of had enough.”

Coulson nods, “You don’t have to, Steve. You’re coming with me tomorrow away. This is more for Clint and Bruce right now because they want to give Tony a bath tomorrow. If you can’t handle it right now, we can just fill you in later.”

Steve gives him a small smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, “Thank you, Agent Coulson. I know it’s lame, I’m supposed to be the strongest man in the world, but I just… I can’t hear about him being tortured again.”

Coulson keeps his emotions in check as he responds, knowing full well that Steve would not appreciate his pity, “Phil is fine when we’re in a non-formal setting, Steve. And physical strength is very, very different from emotional or spiritual strength. Everyone has their breaking points, and no one here expects you to be perfect.”

Steve nods, “I know, it’s just… He’s just so innocent and sweet, and I can’t figure out why someone would want to do such horrible things to him.”

Coulson lays a hand on Steve forearm to stop him from walking into the living room, “Some people are just like that. You know that from your time in the war. You’ve seen what some people will do for power and to be in control,” Coulson watches as Steve shuts his eyes and nods slowly, “We can’t change his past, Steve, as much as we might want to. All we can do is help him build a better future.”

Steve gives him another little smile, and Coulson returns it, “Are you good now?”

Steve nods, “Yeah, thanks for that, Phil.”

“Okay, come on then; you can go back to whatever you were doing while I help Clint and Bruce look up the information they need.”

They walk into the living room and Clint asks, “Oh, Hey guys. Is Tony doing okay?”

Coulson looks at him and says, “You’re a horrible liar, Barton. Stop pretending you weren’t listening into the conversation the Captain and I were having. Tony’s sleeping soundly.”

Clint just gives him a cheeky grin and Coulson resists the urge to roll his eyes. Coulson signals for Clint and Bruce to follow him as Steve sits down on the couch next to Natasha. She reaches over and punches him lightly in the arm and holds up a pack of cards, “Want to play a game with me? Bruce didn’t want to and Clint constantly complains I cheat. While that may be true, it gets a little annoying after a while.”

Steve tries not to laugh. He knows exactly what she is trying to do, and doesn’t mind in the least, “Yeah sure.”

Natasha wins the first two games, and Steve wins the third. Just as they are getting ready to start another game, Clint, Bruce, and Coulson sit down with them. Natasha holds up the desk asking silently if they want her to deal them in, and starts passing out the cards when they nod, “So what did you find out?”

Coulson casts a glance over at Steve who just nods for him to continue. Coulson picks up his hand as he says, “Whoever created that drive for us was rather smart about it. We each have our own login name and password for it, so rather than all of us remembering one password we can each access it ourselves. Everything is also separated into folders and even tagged according to when, where, what was done, and what it is, so if we’re looking for a particular instance we can find it easily by using the command line that they installed in the shell to search for particular tags. As for what we were looking for, there doesn’t seem to be much in the line of water torture use against Tony. Just standard waterboarding to make him scream when they felt like it, a high pressure hose to clean him off, and one instance where they held him underwater to force him to service them orally. They would only let him come up for air when he really needed it and if he did a good job. Other than that, there’s nothing that might be a water trigger.”

Natasha mouth curves up at the corners in a hint of a smile as she picks up the card Coulson just placed down and place a cards down on the pile, “Good, at least that’s one less thing we need to worry about. It sounds like all you two might have to worry about tomorrow is just making sure his head isn’t under water.”

Bruce as he places down his card as well and grabs one from the fresh pile, “Yeah, we’ve already discussed what we’re going to do. Hopefully it will all go smoothly while the three of you are gone tomorrow.”

Steve nods, but doesn’t comment as he looks at his hand and tries to figure out his move. The rest of the evening is spent in a drone of good companionship and the soft hum of the TV in the background. One by one the team starts to drop off and head to bed for some sleep before what was surely going to be a busy day tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, Kudos, Comments, and Subscribes are always welcome, and if you ever want to contact me on anything, I have yet to close my ask box on [my Tumblr blog.](http://sweetliliumpoison.tumblr.com/) Feel free to drop a line there and I will be sure to get back to you as soon as I possibly can.


	12. I Don't Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it seems that my poor beta can't get out of his funk and is still feeling very much out of sorts. I don't want to make you guys wait any longer so I'm going to post it now. But please remember this doesn't really have a Beta, so please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors. I've done what I can.
> 
> If you guys can swing by [his Tumblr blog](http://withoutwordsfics.tumblr.com/) and wish him well I'm sure it will brighten his day.

Clint groans as the sunlight streaming in the window hits him in the face and wakes him.  He blinks a couple of times and yawns as he stretches. He smiles lightly as he rolls over in bed to look out the Plexiglas window. He folds his arms on his pillow and rests his chin on them as he watches the sunlight sparkle on the ice coating the branches of the tree he can just see from his vantage point.

Clint lays there like that for a little while; content for the moment and humming a happy little song that he can’t remember the name of to save his life. His mind wanders and he doesn’t really think about anything at all as he lets his thoughts chase themselves around in a circle so fast that he really isn’t able to keep up.

He doesn’t know how long he lays there for but is vaguely aware of the sound of his door opening.  He tenses up for a moment but an earthy smell with a hint of clover fills his nose and calms him down. It doesn’t matter how long they are apart, he will always know the smell of Natasha’s favorite perfume.

Clint feels the bed dip as Natasha sits down by his hip and the smell of her perfume becomes stronger as she leans over and places a soft kiss against the back of his neck. “Goo Goo Dolls – Better Days,” she whispers in his ear.

Clint laughs, “How do you know me so well that you even know when I’m trying to think of the name of a song that I’m humming?”

Natasha sits back up and Clint looks over his shoulder at her. The light from the window streams in and hits her face lighting her eyes and making her hair shine, “The same way you always do it to me, because I’ve been with you long enough to understand the little things, Clint.”

Clint rolls over and smiles up at her. She returns it with a small smile of her own as she leans over him. “I’m happy you do,” he whispers quietly, “It’s nice, extremely so sometimes, to just have someone understand.”

Natasha hums softly as she rests her hand on the side of Clint’s face, “You miss them, don’t you?”

Clint shuts his eyes against the tears and nods into her hand, “Something horrible, Nat. I’m happy I still have you and Phil, even if he’s being a little stand-offish right now.”

Natasha leans down and kisses his forehead, “He’s not being stand-offish,” she kisses the tip of his nose, “He’s just being respectful of the fact the rest of our new team might not be too comfortable with such a relationship,” she finishes before kissing him fully.

Clint leans up and returns her kiss in full, tangling his hand in her fiery hair to draw her closer.

Natasha lets him, knowing how much he needs this. She feels his tongue run across her lower lip and parts her lips to let him in. Clint deepens the kiss easily as he pulls her closer and wraps an arm around her waist as she wraps her arms around his shoulders.

They stay like that until they couldn’t hold their breath a moment longer. Natasha pulls away to draw in a deep breath, and smiles down at Clint again, “If you’re so worried about him pulling away, Clint, then go talk to him. I’m sure Phil will do whatever he has to do to put your mind at ease. He loves you too.”

Clint smiles at her, “I will, Nat. What time is it?”

Natasha fights back a laugh knowing where this was probably going, “It’s still early, I’m sure the others either aren’t awake yet or busy doing their own morning rituals.”

Clint smile widens as he asks, “Do you want to stay for a little while? Nothing like that though, just, you know, stay?”

Natasha smiles softly at him; a smile she reserves for Clint and Phil only now; and nods as she moves to lay down next to him. She pulls him close and pulls his head to her chest wrapping an arm around his shoulders while the other rests on the top of his head. He wraps both his arms around her waist again and cuddles into her embrace.

They lay still, just breathing in each other presence, and after a while Natasha realizes that Clint has fallen asleep again. Natasha lays there just holding Clint and listening to him breathe as she drifts in and out and she can’t remember the last time she felt this calm.

She wakes up once more and notices the sun ray spilling into the window has shifted off the two and moves carefully to check her watch without waking up Clint if she doesn’t need to. Natasha almost has to do a double take when she realizes an hour has past and she laughs softly to herself, wondering why no one has come in to wake them as she tries wake Clint.

Clint grumbles and bats her hand away, and Natasha frowns as she tries to think of another way to wake him up. A sudden knock at the door startles her and she turns to look at the door as it opens and Phil slips in and shuts it behind him quickly.

He looks up at the two of them still curled up on the bed and a small smile pulls at his lips, “How did I know I’d find the both of you here?”

Natasha chuckles, “Clint asked me something very similar to that not that long ago. Want to know what I told him?”

Phil laughs softly as he says, “I’m fairly sure I can guess, but why don’t you tell me anyway.”

Natasha smiles at him, marvels for a moment at how easy it is for these two unusual men to get her to do that, and says, “I told him that it’s because we’ve been together so long and because of how deeply we care for each other.”

Phil smiles brightly at her as he sits down on the bed next to Clint. His eyes show a tenderness that so few people get to see from him and Natasha leans into his touch when he rests a hand on her check, “I can believe that. Come on, we better get him up before someone comes looking for us.”

Natasha quickly reaches out and stops Phil from shaking Clint awake, “Wait, Phil. Really quickly before we wake him, there’s something you need to know. Ever since we’ve joined Commander Fury’s Avengers Initiative Clint’s felt like you’ve been pulling away. I know why and I understand, but; even though I know Clint will never admit it; I know he’s afraid he’s losing you.  Phil –“

Phil places a finger against her lips to gently silence her before leaning in to steal a quick, chaste kiss, “I understand. I’ll make sure he knows I still love him. Do you feel that way?”

Natasha smiles softly and shakes her head, “I don’t. You’ve always been there for me, and I know if I have a problem with anything I can just talk to you. Clint though, he won’t bother you with something like that.”

Phil nods, “That’s our Titmouse, though. He’d lose his charm if he didn’t operate like that.”

Natasha snickers softly at the nickname their previous team had given Clint so long ago. Clint still hates it, but tolerates her and Phil calling him it on occasion. Phil smiles with her, and reaches down to shake Clint’s shoulder as he says, “Come on Clint, time to wake up.”

Clint grumbles something unintelligible and tries to twist away again. Phil cocks an eyebrow and says, “He really doesn’t want to wake up today does he? Shall we move onto plan B?”

Natasha smiles becomes almost cruel in a playful way as she says, “Well, if he doesn’t want to wake up on his own we really don’t have a chose do we?”

Phil chuckles and nods to Natasha who moves so she isn’t leaning against Clint anymore. With a quick nod to each other they pounce and start tickling Clint.

Clint jerks awake with a laugh and tries to pull away from the two but the just chase him. Natasha and Phil keep it up for a few minutes while Clint laughs uncontrollably. Eventually he manages to get out, “S – stop – Haha – Please stop!”

Natasha and Phil still for a moment, not pulling away and just look at him. Clint smiles at them even as he gasps for breath and says, “Yellow… No more, please. I’m up now, I swear.”

Natasha smiles at him and gets off the bed and Phil nods. Clint takes a moment to catch his breath, before looking up at the two of them and smiles brightly. When Clint tries to get up though, Phil stops him. Clint looks up in confusion at him and Phil quickly says, “Clint, just really quickly before we leave the room, I know you feel like I’ve been pulling away, I can see it. I realize I have been kind of standoffish lately, and I’m sorry if I made you feel that way. I still love you, and I just want you to know that. If you need me to prove that to you I can, and I am more than willing, but tonight. If you really need it, just come to my room. You too Nat, ok?”

Clint smiles slips to something far gentler as he leans up to give Phil a soft kiss, “It’s a date then.”

Phil returns the kiss before Clint can pull away and says, “I look forward to it. Come on, you two need to go get some breakfast and Natasha, Steve, and I need to get ready to go. Besides I believe you had something you really wanted to do today yourself.”

Clint smiles cheekily as he flips over the footboard and lands on his feet. He tilts his head to the side as he says, “Yeah, it’s something that needs to be done, and I won’t lie I want to do it,” he trails off uncertainly.

Natasha frowns softly, knowing all too well what it means when Clint trails off like that. She quickly walks over and wraps her arms around his waist and looks him in the eye, “What’s wrong, Clint?”

Clint wraps his arms around her shoulders and sighs, “I’m just a little worried about today is all. Tony’s so timid about everything and one thing I’ve noticed is that he won’t tell you what’s wrong unless it’s really obvious that something is wrong or if he is pressured to the point he breaks down and says so. I’m kind of hoping that this will be a bonding experience for the three of us, but if Bruce and I do something wrong and scare him and don’t realize it we could not only set his healing process back a few paces but also hurt him badly and make it so he doesn’t trust us anymore.”

Phil walks over and starts to user them to the door as he says, “Don’t worry, Clint. You’ll do fine today. If you keep doing what you already are then you have nothing to worry about.”

Clint looks up at him with a smile as they step out into the hall. Natasha pulls away from Clint’s side and looks over her shoulder at Phil, “I’m assuming everyone is already up and has eaten, then?”

Phil straightens his jacket and adjusts his tie, “Yes. You too go and get something to eat and join the rest of us in the living room when you’re done. And don’t make a mess in there. I don’t want to deal with the smell and I will make you clean it up in the worst way I can think of,” he says in his straight-laced, all business manner.

Natasha barely suppresses a laugh as Clint gives Phil one of the most half-assed attempts at a salute she has ever seen and says, “Yes, Mr. boss, sir!” before snatching her wrist and turning to run down the hall before he could respond.

Natasha keeps pace with Clint but spares a glace over her shoulder to see Phil standing where they had left him, left hand covering his eyes, and shoulders shaking with laughter.

Phil looks up and watches them run into the kitchen; Clint laughing like a maniac. He shakes his head at Clint’s antics as he turns to walk to the living room trusting that Natasha could keep Clint from getting into too much trouble.

He stops in the door to the living room, just taking in the scene before him. Steve and Bruce are sitting on the couch, Tony in between them with some day time cartoon playing on the television. Steve is dressed and ready to go, but Bruce is still in his pajamas and Tony seems to be wearing only Steve’s sweater. Phil can’t stop the smile that pulls up the corner of his lips and he leans against the door frame and just watches the three.

Every now and again Steve pauses the show and translates what is being said for Tony, who would nod and sometimes ask a question or two before falling silent again and going back to watching the show. Tony seems generally interested in the show, which is honestly surprising to Phil since Tony has never shown an interest in anything before.

Bruce looks over at them and notices Phil standing in the door. Phil nods to him as him walks into the room, “I think this is by far as domestic as I have seen the two of you.”

Bruce smiles at him and says, “Honestly between being on the run from the Army before S.H.I.L.D. picked me up, then being out in the field as an Avenger I can’t remember the last time I did something like this either.”

Steve stretches as he looks over at Phil, “I couldn’t afford to do this before I became Captain America, and I sure as shooting didn’t have the time after, so this is a complete first for me.”

Phil nods, “Are you two enjoying yourselves or do you find this too dull after the lives you’ve lead?”

Bruce and Steve shake their heads and Bruce says, “I really like this honestly, it’s a nice change of pace from what we’re use to and very relaxing. It’s not something we get to do very often.”

Steve continues, “Besides Tony really does seem to be enjoying himself. He’s honestly interested in the show and seems to want to understand.”

Phil nods, “Yeah I noticed that one myself. Hey Steve why don’t you go check on Natasha; she went to get some breakfast before we have to go out; if she’s ready just shout down the hall and I’ll join you guys.”

Bruce gives him an odd look, but doesn’t say anything as Steve gets up and walks out of the room. Phil watches as Tony looks out of the corner of his eye as Steve leaves, and he whines softly. Bruce frowns and watches him for a moment before looking back to Phil, “That’s odd, why did he make that sound?”

Phil sighs as he walks around to sit in the spot Steve just left, “It’s what I thought… Tony might be interested in the show, but the interest comes from the fact that you and Steve were reacting positively to his interest in it and he was showing so much interest to please you.”

Bruce sighs sadly, “I suppose it’s to be expected, but maybe we can use that to find something that would really interest him?”

Phil smiles slightly, “You’re a very intelligent man, Doctor Banner. Yes actually it would be a very good way to find out and maybe use his interest as a learning tool if we can.”

Phil turns his attention to Tony. He sees Tony casting little looks between the two of them, and Phil makes sure to catch his eyes the next time Tony looks at him and gives the man a warm smile. He picks up the remote and pauses the show still playing on the TV, and gives Tony a quick rundown. He waits for a moment to see if Tony has any questions, but when he doesn’t say anything Phil hits the play button.

They sit like this for a few minutes, Phil taking over what Steve had been doing, and though it took a couple of tries eventually Tony did start talking again.

Clint comes into the room and leans against the couch by Phil and gives the man his signature smile, “Nat and Steve are waiting on ya, Coulson.”

Phil stands and straightens his outfit, “Right, I guess you’re going to start on Tony’s bath now then?”

Clint nods, walking over and picking up Tony carefully. His smile softens as Tony leans into his chest and wraps his arms around Clint’s neck. Clint moves his arms carefully so one is acting as a seat for him, the other hand resting high on his back, holding Tony securely so he won’t fall.

Tony looks up at Clint wide-eyed and innocent for a moment before leaning forward carefully, as if afraid he is going to be yelled at, and lets his head rest on the joint of Clint’s shoulder and neck. Clint smiles down at Tony as he lets his cheek rest on the top of Tony’s head for a short moment.

He looks back up at Phil and Bruce to see the half amused smiles on their faces. Clint gives them a perplexed look and asks, “What?”

Bruce just shakes his head and Phil can’t quite keep the laugh out of his voice as he says, “It’s nothing, Clint. Come on, let’s go.”

They join Steve and Natasha in the hall; both already bundled up in their winter coats and scarves; and Steve hands Phil his coat and scarf. As Phil puts them on Steve walks over and lays a gentle hand on Tony’s head, “ _We need to head out now, little one. Make sure to behave for Clint and Bruce ok?_ ”

Tony turns his head a little and looks at Steve, “ _Will…will you…_ ”

Steve smiles and ruffles Tony’s hair as he answer the question he thinks Tony is about to ask, “ _We won’t be gone long. We’re actually going out to get some cloths for you so you don’t need to keep wearing the same thing every day. While we’re gone, Clint and Bruce are going to give you a nice bath so that you can feel cleaner, ok?_ ”

Tony just looks at him for a moment before burying his face into Clint’s shoulder. Steve looks at Clint in confusion who just shrugs as he adjusts his hold on Tony again. Clint falters and looks down at Tony sadly, “He’s shaking now...”

Steve looks over his shoulder at Phil, “Agent Coulson? Do you know what’s wrong?”

Phil wraps his scarf around his neck and gives Steve an odd look as he walks over, “Why do you assume I have any idea at all?”

Steve blinks a few times and says, “Sorry. It’s just that so far you seem to understand him a lot better than any of us, you know. You knew about the fact that he was still hurt, and about why he was crying yesterday morning, and knowing why he started chocking at dinner… I’m sorry; I just kind of assumed you’d know what was going on now…”

Phil actually chuckles softly at that, “Steve I don’t understand it any better than you do, I just happen to have a very good guessing streak thus far, and need I remind you that I completely flubbed the pasta thing myself. To be honest, I have no idea what’s going on right now.”

Natasha says, “Well, maybe it has something to do with the bath? I mean, from what we know from the flash drive, I can’t imagine that the way Hydra cleaned him up would have been very fun for him. He might just be afraid of that.”

“Maybe…” Phil says uncertainly, “Either way; we don’t know and I doubt he’d honestly tell us. We should get going. I don’t want this taking all day.”

Steve, Natasha, and Phil say one last goodbye to Clint, Bruce and Tony before leaving. Clint nuzzles the top of Tony’s head and watches as Bruce locks the door behind them. Bruce turns around and asks, “Is he still shaking?”

Clint nods mussing Tony’s hair a little, “Yeah… Think it’d do any good to ask him?”

Bruce shrugs at him and he and Clint turn to walk down the hall to the bathroom, “I don’t know; I can’t interact with him the way you all can. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask, but Phil might be right and he might not tell you.”

Clint sighs sadly, “I suppose you’re right,” he looks down at Tony as best he can and notices that it looks like Tony may be staring at the door and stops walking, “Hey, Bruce, is the kid staring at the door? I can’t tell too easily from the position.”

Clint looks at Bruce as he cranes his head around to look at Tony, “I think he is. What’s going on?”

Clint shakes his head, “I have no idea. _Tony? What’s wrong, little one?_ ”

Tony ducks his head back into Clint’s shoulders and doesn’t say anything. Clint kneels down on the floor and settles Tony down carefully so he can look at him, “ _Come on, Tony, I need you to talk to me. Why were you staring at the door? Does it have something to do with why you acted the way you did when Phil, Natasha, and Steve left?_ ”

Tony gives him a quick, little glance out of the corner of his eye before looking down at the floor. He fists his hands into the hem of Steve’s sweater and says so softly Clint almost misses it, “ _They’re not coming back are they?_ ”

Clint blinks softly as he tries to understand why Tony would think that, “ _Of course they’re coming back, Tony. Why would you think they wouldn’t?_ ”

Tony shuts his eyes tightly, “ _Because whenever anyone who feeds me or keeps me warm without my masters’ specific permission walks away they never come back._ ”

Clint’s heart clenches in his chest. He knows what that feeling is like and what that statement implies.

He still remembers when Phil first brought him to S.H.I.E.L.D. and he felt much the same anytime someone walked away. He lays his hand on Tony’s head and ruffles his hair lightly and smiles at him, “ _They’ll come back, Tony. I promise you they will. I know it doesn’t mean much now, but you’ll see. In a few hours they’ll come right back in through that door and they’ll be really happy to see you._ ”

Bruce clears his throat to get Clint’s attention and asks, “So… What’s going on?”

Clint chuckles to himself, “Sorry, man, I guess I forgot you can’t understand German too well. Pretty much Tony’s afraid that they’re not coming back. Seems anyone who showed him any kindness back when he was a slave to Hydra never came back after his Masters found out, so now he’s worried that it’s going to be the same with Steve, Natasha, and Phil.”

Bruce’s expression turns sad, “That’s horrible. And let me guess, nothing we say is going to matter is it? The only thing that will convince him that’s not true is when they come back, right?”

Clint nods as he picks Tony up again, “Yeah, the little things we take for granted, right?”

They walk the rest of the way to the bathroom in silence. Once inside, Clint sets Tony down on the counter as Bruce walks over to the basin they had taken from the storage room and starts to fill it with water.

Clint smiles down at Tony again and gently grabs the hem of the sweater, “ _Arms up, please._ ”

Tony blinks and Clint sees his cheeks turn a little red, but he puts his arms up as asked. Clint pulls off the sweater and suddenly understands Tony’s blush. Apparently Steve had decided to dress him in only the sweater this morning.

Clint shakes his head and turns to see how Bruce is coming along. Almost as if he can sense Clint's gaze he says, "I've put only enough wanted in the basin to come up to the middle of his thigh; maybe a little higher; if he's sitting with his legs extended. Don't want the poor thing thinking we're trying to drown him by filling it up too much."

Clint nods and asks, "So can I bring him over? I'm sure the counter is a very cold place to sit."

Clint sees the smile that pulls at Bruce's lips as the man says, "I can only imagine. Yeah it's fine if you want to bring him over. I can get the soap and shampoo."

Clint nods again, picking Tony up carefully and carrying him over to the basin. He kneels down next to it and attempts to place Tony in the water only to realize that Tony has a death grip on his neck and will not let go.

Clint blinks in confusion but stops trying to pull Tony off of him and instead starts to pet his head, " _Hey, what's up, Tony? Are you afraid of the water or something?_ "

Tony looks up at him with wide terrified eyes before throwing a glance down at the water in the basin. He draws a shuttered breath and whimpers softly as he buries his face into Clint's chest again. _"I...I'm sorry,_ " he stammers softly, " _I'll be good... I promise I'll be good. I'll let you do what you want, Ma- Clint. I'm sorry, I'll be good I promise._ "

Clint quickly presses the heel of his hand into the back of Tony's head when he feels the wet spot forming on his shirt from the young man's tears. He nuzzles his cheek into Tony's hair as he whispers, " _Shh, calm down, little one. Hush now, you're fine, I promise. It's ok to be afraid._ "

Tony looks up at him for a moment, his tear filled eyes still terrified, and starts to say, " _B... But-_ "

Clint shakes his head and presses a soft kiss to Tony's forehead, " _No buts. It's ok to be afraid. Being afraid is normal, especially in a situation you're not use to. You're fine and you'll be fine. Hush now and just calm down, I'll hold you until you're ready._ "

Bruce walks into Clint’s line of sight with a basket of different shampoos and soaps and a soft, fluffy towel draped over his arm. He kneels down next to them and cocks his head to the side as he gives Clint a questioning look.

Clint smiles his cheeky little smile at him and says, "With everything he's been forced to endure he's terrified of even this little amount of water."

Bruce nods sadly, and starts to run the tips of his fingers up and down Tony's spine in a soothing manner. Clint feels Tony jump slightly in his arms and the first touch.

He watches as Tony looks over at Bruce who smiles warmly at Tony and tells him that he is a good boy and that it is ok to be afraid and how he is so proud of Tony for being willing to face his fears. Bruce keeps his voice soft and gentle as he speaks and even though Clint knows Tony can't understand a word of what Bruce is saying it does seem to be helping. The tone and gentle, repetitive motion of Bruce's hand running up and down his spine and Clint's own hand petting his hair has Tony completely calm and almost ready to fall asleep in Clint's arms after a few minutes.

They kneel by the basin like that for about a minute more before Bruce laughs softly, "I'm surprised that you're not more confused by all this."

Clint frowns as he continues to pet Tony's head, "Honestly, I really have no idea what's going on or even what I'm doing. All I know is that Tony's terrified, and though I might not understand that fear to save my life it doesn't make it any less real to him. My understanding of any of this is irrelevant because it's what he understands, and that's all that matters right now."

Clint smile gently down at Tony as the young man turns sleepy eyes up to him. He nuzzles his face into Tony's now messy hair and asks, " _Are you feeling better now, little one?_ " Tony nods and hums in agreement, " _Good, do you think you're ready to go in the water now?_ "

Tony falters for a moment and shivers, but nods as he unlocks his arms from around Clint's neck.

Clint adjusts his hold on Tony so he can set him in the basin easier as he says, " _I'm really proud of you Tony, facing your fears like this. I promise you we don't want to hurt you in anyway, and in fact I want you to tell me if we do. Can you do that for me, Tony? Tell us if we do anything wrong that hurts or scares you?_ "

Tony nods softly and Clint turns to Bruce, "Is the water still warm?”

Bruce smiles at him as he reaches into the basin and swishes his hand around to test to water.  He looks back up at Clint and says, “It seems to have cooled a little but still feels warm enough to me. Go ahead and put Tony in, if he says it’s too cold I can put some warmer water in.”

Clint carefully lowers Tony into the water and watches Tony carefully to see if the water is too hot or cold. Tony sits perfectly still, his legs stretched out in front of him, and both hands pressed flat onto the bottom of the basin so they were covered with water and stares down. He stays for just long enough that Clint starts to get worried, and he asks, “ _Tony?_ ”

Tony jumps a little and looks up at him. He looks back down and moves his hand slightly making the water ripple around it as he says, “ _It’s warm._ ”

Clint smiles with a small laugh, “ _I guess that answers my question then. We’re going to start cleaning you up now. Remember what I told you and if you get scared or need us to stop say so. Ok?_ ”

Tony nods in answer and Clint dips his hand into the water, collecting a handful as best he could. He gently runs the water over Tony’s arm, making sure to talk Tony through everything he was doing and why. Tony didn’t seem to mind in the least, and giggles softly when Clint hits a particularly ticklish area. Clint discreetly hits that spot once more to see if Tony wouldn’t make that sound again, and decides when Tony giggles once more that he absolutely loves the way Tony laughs.

Bruce smiles knowingly at Clint, and grabs the soap and washcloth out of the basket. He dips them in the water as Clint finishes what he is doing and looks up, “Can you explain to Tony what I’m doing? I don’t want to scare him.”

Clint smiles back at him, and turns to Tony, “ _Tony, Bruce is going to clean you up with some soap now. It shouldn’t hurt unless he hits a tender area, but he’s going to be careful around the ones we know about. The rule still stands, I want you to tell us if we do anything wrong, ok?_ ”

Tony nods again to show he understands and holds out his arm when Bruce gestures for him to extend it. The cloth is soft against his skin, the soap tingles a little as it cleans the dirt off him and Master Bruce’s touch is light and gentle as he guides the cloth over his skin. It is a surprisingly nice feeling and Tony hopes this isn’t a onetime thing because he honestly likes it.

As Master Bruce finishes running the cloth over that arm and moves to the other Master Clint goes back to collecting some of the water in his hand and pouring it over his arm to wash the soap away. Tony watches intently as Master Clint rubs gently at his arm to remove the suds before casting a quick glance up at his Mater. Master Clint is intently focused on what he is doing and muttering to himself constantly. Though Tony does not understand every word he understands the basics of what his Master is saying. Master Clint is muttering a constant remind to himself to be careful and not move too fast or push too hard so he doesn’t hurt or scare Tony.

Tony looks back down at his Master’s hand in confusion. His new Masters honestly seem to not want to hurt him and the thought is so alien to Tony it gives him a headache. He is a pain slut and he knows that and accepts it. He fears punishment but loves to be hurt, he lives solely to be his Masters’ toy and loves when they force him past his limits because it means they are happy and their happiness means everything to him.

Tony knows he’s been trained and broken to need pain… so why does his new Masters’ gentle touches and careful manners feel so good?

Master Clint places two fingers under his chin and gently tilts Tony’s head up, “ _Tony, is everything ok? We’re not being too ruff are we?_ ”

Tony looks into his Mater’s steel colored eyes and says, “ _No, it… it feels… nice…_ ”

Master Clint smiles warmly at him and Tony feels his heart flutter in his chest. The odd sensation is not something he is used to, and he looks away from his Master’s eyes to get control of himself again.

If his Master was mad at the abrupt move, he didn’t show it. Master Clint just raises his hand and ruffles Tony’s hair slightly before going back to washing the soap off.

Clint finishes with Tony’s arm and moves to his other as Bruce starts on his chest and abdomen. It moves slowly, but well from there, Bruce and Clint move in perfect unison being careful of the areas that they know Tony is tender, and being extremely careful on his back to not rip open the whip marks again. They agree that it is a good idea to skip washing Tony’s more intimate parts as he probably wouldn’t be too comfortable with it.

As Bruce rinses off wash cloth Clint grabs the bottle of shampoo and kneels down in front of Tony, “ _Hey kiddo, we’re going to wash your hair now. I promise we’re not going to do anything to hurt you, but I’m going to need you to trust me on that right now. I need you to lean back and tilt your head back so I can pour some water on your hair so the shampoo will foam properly._ ”

Tony starts shaking and tears form at the corner of his eyes. Clint heart clenches in his chest at the sight.

The reaction is not unexpected. Clint has read the files, he knows how Hydra hurt him, and his anger burns even now as he thinks about it. He can’t imagine what torture Tony is imagining, but he knows he needs to stop Tony from thinking about it.

Clint reaches out and gently wipes away the tears before they can fall, “ _Hush, Tony. It’ll be ok; you know we’re not going to hurt you. If you’re not ready right now that’s fine… Take a few minutes and calm down._ “

Bruce walks over and sits down on the floor next to Clint, “He’s afraid again.”

Clint nods, “Can’t blame the poor kid…”

Bruce hums softly, “He’s not a kid, Clint. Hydra really vilified everything to him didn’t they?” he asks as he reaches out a hand and starts to gently pet the top of Tony’s head to see if it would help calm the man down.

“More than likely it helped make him easier to control,” Clint responds.

Bruce blinks, “How does that one work?”

Clint laughs softly as he watches Tony nuzzle into Bruce’s hand, “That’s cute. He calms down really quickly around you, doesn’t he? It’s not hard honestly. Take something that a person thinks they can trust, make it into something dangerous by showing how easy it would be to hurt them with it, then say something simple like ‘If you don’t want this to hurt you anymore you’ll do what I say’. It might take a couple of times, but eventually the mind will start to associate the object or person in question in a negative and painful way and will start doing things to avoid situations that would put them in contact with it.”

Bruce smiles, “He really does, huh? It’s unusual, having someone who trusts me so readily. And yes, I can see you’re point there. Do you think he’s ready?”

Clint shrugs at him, “I’ll ask him. _Tony? Are you good now?_ ”

Tony’s honey eyes look up at him, “ _You… you promise you’re not going to… to…_ ”

Clint heart breaks a little and he saves Tony from having to finish that sentience by leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on Tony’s forehead, “ _I promise you from the bottom of my heart we’re not going to hurt you, Tony. I know it’s a lot to ask but I need you to trust me on that._ ”

Tony looks at him for a moment before nodding, “ _Yes, Clint. What is it you need me to do?_ ”

Clint smiles warmly at him, and for a moment it looks like Tony wants to return it, but he doesn’t. Clint says, “ _Ok, what we need you to do is lean back a little and tilt your head back just like this_ ,” Clint helps Tony tilt his head back just enough, “ _and hold still for a moment._ ”

Clint smiles as Tony holds not just his head but his whole body as still as possible, “ _Relax, Tony. If you keep your body locked up like that you’re going to end up hurting something else._ ”

Tony looks up at him wide-eyed but let’s his body relax some. Clint smiles encouragingly at him and says, “ _Ok, just give me a second here to get your hair wet and you can go back to sitting normally._ ”

Clint gathers some water in both of his hand and raises them to Tony’s hairline. Carefully as he could he let the water soak into Tony’s hair without letting it run down his face and get in his eyes or mouth, then runs his fingers through Tony’s hair. He feels the way Tony tenses the first time obviously expecting to be hurt, but Clint is careful and patient and Tony soon relaxes when he realizes Clint won’t hurt him.

As soon as Tony’s hair is good and wet, Clint tells him to sit back up and reaches for the shampoo bottle. Bruce stops him though and says, “Let me do it.”

Clint nods, “alright take your time. I’m going to go call Phil, Steve, and Natasha so they can give us a heads up when they’re on their way back and we can meet them by the door for Tony’s sake.”

Bruce blinks, “So he knows when they’re coming home and he doesn’t have to worry about being left behind?”

Clint nods, “Yeah, exactly. It should help him calm down some about the next time someone has to leave… hopefully anyway.”

Bruce smiles, “Smart thinking, Clint. Hey, do me a favor quick and tell Tony that if I’m being too ruff with this to say verletzt so I know to lighten up?”

Clint blinks once then laughs, “Hurt huh? Didn’t know you knew some German.”

Bruce looks at him, “I don’t really. I’ve been trying to teach myself some so I can communicate with him, or at least understand some basic things should he need something when you guys aren’t around.”

Clint smiles almost gently at him. Bruce never ceases to amaze him. The man had some extreme anger management issues and to many that makes him terrifying, but he has a heart of gold under that radiated skin of his and he constantly tries to make others’ lives easier in any way he can.

Clint tells Tony that Bruce was going to take over washing his hair and to say verletzt if Bruce is being to ruff before walking out of the room to make the phone call.

Bruce watches him leave, wondering about the silly smile on his face, but shakes it off and grabs the shampoo bottle. He pours a generous amount in his hand, dips the hand in the water, and lathers the shampoo up. He works the shampoo into Tony’s hair for a few minutes, gently massaging Tony’s scalp as best he could without hurting Tony. Once he feels that he has worked the lather in enough he washes his hands off in the tub, tilts Tony’s head back again and carefully uses the hose to wash the shampoo out of his hair while keeping the water off Tony’s face like Clint did.

Once done he repeats the steps again, working the shampoo into Tony’s hair until it’s a nice rich lather. Bruce can feel Tony relaxing as he works his fingers across the man’s scalp and Bruce switches his focus from clean Tony to just seeing how relaxed he can help him get.

Bruce massages Tony’s head and shoulders gently and can feel the man tremble under his touch. He twists around so he can see Tony’s face and sees Tony has his eyes shut and mouth slightly open and Bruce smiles to realize that Tony is enjoying the massage very much.

Tony opens his eyes lazily and looks up at Bruce, a softly shuttered moan leaving his lips. Bruce smiles gently down at him and says, “ _ok?_ ”

Tony tries to respond but doesn’t seem to be able to form the words so he nods his head and relaxes more under Bruce’s hands.

Bruce’s smile doesn’t fade, even after Clint comes back in. If he thinks the scene odd Clint doesn’t say anything about it, just helps Bruce finish up cleaning the shampoo out of Tony’s hair.

They leave Tony in the basin for a moment as they put the soap and shampoo away and throw the washcloth in the laundry basket, but a softly laugh distracts them for a moment.

Clint looks around and sees Tony playing with a little bubble. Tony laughs softly again and pokes the bubble making it pop. He flinches when it does, but laughs again and starts splashing around in the water clearly trying to make another bubble.

Clint laughs as he watches Tony play in the water, but he must have startled Tony because the young man flitches and stills, tensing up and bowing his head.

Clint curses under his breath and tries to think of what to do. He throws a glance at Bruce and sees the man still has the shampoo bottle out and Clint smiles as he realizes what to do to make Tony happy again. He reaches out a hand and takes the shampoo bottle from Bruce who gives him an odd look, but Clint just holds up a hand and walks over to Tony.

Tony keeps his head down but looks out of the corner of his eye at Clint. Clint smiles warmly at him as he kneels down next to the basin and asks, “ _Are you having fun, little one?_ ”

Tony flitches and stammers out, “ _I…I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to…_ ”

Clint blinks and quickly places a hand on the top of Tony’s head, “ _Woe, easy there, little one. You’re not in trouble. It’s a good thing if you were enjoying yourself. So I’ll ask again, were you having fun?_ ”

Tony looks up at him cautiously, but nods. Clint smiles, “ _Good. Here, this will help make more bubbles for you to play with,_ ” he pours an ample amount of the shampoo into the water, “ _all you have to do is splash around like you were and get it to bubble up._ ”

Tony looks up at him wide-eyed for a moment, but glances back down at shampoo swirling around in the water. Clint couldn’t tell what Tony was thinking, but at his soft encouragement Tony reaches out and does bat the water around a little. Sure enough the shampoo starts to dissipate into the water faster and create little bubbles around Tony’s hand, making Tony laugh softly as he watches.

Clint smiles and says, “ _There you go, Tony. Go ahead and have fun. Bruce and I are going to take our showers now to get cleaned up, while we’re doing that you can stay in the basin and play, ok?_ ”

Tony looks up at Clint; for once with the starts of a smile on his face; and nods, “ _Thank you, Ma…Clint._ ”

Clint ruffles Tony’s hair one more time as he gets up and throws the shampoo at Bruce to have him put it away. Bruce gives him a confused look and Clint explains what happened as they start getting ready for their showers.

Clint and Bruce take their time showering and getting dressed to give Tony more time to play before pulling him out of the basin. Bruce dries him off and combs his hair as Clint empties and cleans the basin and puts it away under the sink for the next time.

When they were done and Tony covered with the sweater again, they return to the living room; where incidentally they had left the TV on, Phil is going to kill them for that one; and sat down to wait for the others to get back from the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, Kudos, Comments, and Subscribes are always welcome, and if you ever want to contact me on anything, I have yet to close my ask box on [my Tumblr blog.](http://sweetliliumpoison.tumblr.com/) Feel free to drop a line there and I will be sure to get back to you as soon as I possibly can.


	13. Stranger than Fiction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had fun writing this chapter up, I hope you all enjoy it.

Clint sits in the living room obviously feeling very uneasy. The house is too quiet without the rest of the team there, though the soft drone of the TV showing some late afternoon kids' cartoon helps. Ever since Bruce had realized Tony had fallen asleep on the couch and laid him down in his bed before taking a nap himself Clint has been hearing things that he knows aren't there. He blames his nerves on the fact that he is now responsible for the safety of one of his team mates and a young man that they had all come to care for so deeply while they sleep and the fact that this is the first time he's been truly alone since joining S.H.I.E.L.D.

He taps his hand on the armrest and looks around as another creek of the house makes him think of someone sneaking around trying not to be noticed, and starts debating getting up and taking another look around to make sure everything is alright when his phone goes off loudly. Clint's already frazzled nerves go on high alert for a moment as he jumps to his feet and spins around wildly for a moment before realizing what the sound was.

Clint shakes his head and laughs at the way he's acting as he picks up his phone. He checks the caller ID, sees that it's Phil, and answers it quickly before it can go to voice mail. The conversation is very quick; Phil only calling to tell Clint that they're on their way back like Clint had ask him too and they should be there within half an hour depending on traffic before hanging up so that he could start driving.

Clint laughs to himself and slips his phone into his pocket as he makes his way down the hall to wake Bruce and Tony up so they could meet the rest of the gang by the door. He decides to wake Bruce up first so he could help him with Tony and knocks on the doctor's door. For a while nothing happens and Clint is starting to think he should knock again, but the door opens and a blurry-eyed Bruce is standing there glaring at Clint.

Clint just smiles brightly and asks, "Hey, did you sleep well?"

Bruce blinks twice to get his eyes to focus, "Clint? Yeah, sort of. Is something wrong?"

"Not wrong, per say, but Steve, Phil, and Nat are on their way back and I know we said we wanted to meet them at the door with Tony so I thought I'd wake you up."

Bruce perked up, "Yeah we did say that, OK give me a second to change my shirt and I'll join you out in the hall. Why don't you go wake Tony up?"

Clint nods and turns to Tony's room. He knocks lightly on the door to not startle the young man if he's still asleep, and opens it softly. As soon as the door is open he hears a soft sobbing sound. Worry makes Clint's brow fur and a quick look over at the bed confirms that Tony is sitting up in the middle of the bed, hands over his face and sobbing quietly.

Clint carefully makes his way over to the bed, not wanting to scare Tony. About half way there a rather acidic smell hits him and Clint gags for a moment at the unexpected scent, but he has a feeling he knows what's wrong now. Kneeling down next to the bed, Clint lays a gentle hand on Tony's shoulder to get his attention and says softly, " _Tony? Did you have an accident?_ "

Tony jumps and looks up at Clint fearfully, " _I...I'm sor-sorry! I didn't know why my stomach was hurting so much!"_

Clint smiles down at him trying to be reassuring, " _It's ok, Tony, accidents happen._ "

Tony hiccups and stammers, " _Bu...but every-things all wet now...and I was...bad. I'm... sorry Ma-Clint, I didn't mean to be bad."_

Clint leans forward quickly and places a soft kiss on Tony's forehead to calm him down. Tony looks up at him wide-eyed, but he does calm down a little. Clint smiles at him and says, " _It's fine, Tony, everyone has accidents from time to time. I'm not mad at you for it. Give me a minute to call Bruce to find you something else to wear and we'll get you cleaned up again and dressed in some nice dry cloths OK?_ "

Tony hiccups and stares with wide eyes at Clint. Clint sighs softly and smiles as he pats Tony on the head before walking to the door and calling down the hall to Bruce.

Bruce sticks his head out the door and Clint asks, “Can you grab a spare sweater or something for the kid and meet us in the bathroom? He had a little accident and I’m going to clean him up, but I don’t think he wants to be put back in the sweater he was wearing.”

Bruce looks thoughtful for a moment before saying, “I should still have a Culver sweater lying around. It’s too big for me now, but that should work great because it would help cover Tony’s legs a little more and help keep him warmer. Let me go dig through the closet,” before disappearing back into his room.

Clint smiles to himself and turns back to Tony who’s sitting on the bed looking at him with wide eyes, but thankfully not crying anymore. Clint walks over to the bed and smiles down at Tony, “ _Ok, little one, let’s get you out of that dirty sweater and get you cleaned up. Bruce is bringing you another sweater to wear._ ”

Tony puts up his arms without being asked, and Clint carefully grabs the sides and tries to lift it over his head without letting the obviously damp hem touch Tony’s skin or hair. Once it’s off he carefully sets it down on the soiled bedding and picks Tony up.

Clint can feel the dampness clinging to Tony’s skin and tries hard not to gag; he knows Tony is already embarrassed enough over what happened and he doesn’t need to make it worse. He quickly makes his way down the hall to the bathroom, “ _We’re going to forgo the basin right now to save on some time, but we’ll get you all nice and clean, ok?_ ”

Tony looks up at him with wide, hypnotic eyes and a small nod, and Clint has to give himself a mental shake to not get lost in Tony’s eyes. He sets Tony down on the floor in one of the shower stalls and turns the head so the spray won’t be hitting Tony directly right away.

 Clint tests the water to make sure it would not be too hot or too cold before turning the water so that it hit the lower part of Tony’s body while trying to avoid getting his hair wet so they wouldn’t need to dry it again.

Clint kneels down next to Tony and helps to move him around so the water gets him nice and wet. Clint looks around and curses softly under his breath as he realizes that he forgot a wash cloth and soap, but Bruce walks into his line of sight and holds them out for Clint. Clint smiles and says, “Thanks, did you find the sweater?”

Bruce nods, “Yeah, I left it on the counter for when you’re done. I’ll let you finish up in here, I’m going to go strip down his bed and remake it.”

“I completely forgot someone would have to do that. Thank you,” Clint says as he starts washing down Tony’s sides and legs, “I shouldn’t be too much longer in here after I can come help you make the bed and that should put us at a few minutes before Phil, Steve, and Natasha should come back so we can go wait by the door for them.”

Bruce nods as he turns to walk out of the room, “That sounds like a plan. I’ll get started on the bed then you catch up when you’re done.”

Clint works quickly to clean Tony up and dry him off. True to what Bruce said, the sweater seems even bigger on Tony than the one Steve gave to him and Clint has to roll the sleeves up some so Tony could use his hands. Tony looks down at the new sweeter and pulls at the hem a little.

Clint smiles softly and picks him up; Tony still fiddling with the hem of the sweater; and walks back down the hall to Tony’s bedroom. Bruce has already stripped the bed and put the sheets in the laundry chute and was in the processes of getting a fresh set out of the linin closet. Clint carefully places Tony down on the floor, gives him a small bob on the nose, and walks over and takes the small stack that Bruce is trying to pill onto his arm so they don’t fall over.

Bruce looks at him with a warm smile and a small thank you as he pulls out the pillow cases and glances over his shoulder at Tony; smiling again when he sees Tony watching them intently with an adorably confused look on his face.

Bruce and Clint move over to the bed and quickly make it up. As Bruce sets the new comforter down on the bottom of the bed he asks Clint what time it is. Clint looks at his watch quickly and saw that Phil, Steve, and Natasha were due back any minute.

Quickly Bruce walks over and picks up Tony and he and Clint walk down the hall to stand by the door. As they’re walking Clint is talking to Tony, but Bruce can’t really understand what’s being said and doesn’t worry about it at the moment.

They get to the door just in time to hear the lock click. Natasha opens the door wide and steps aside so Phil and Steve; all of their arms loaded with big bags; can get into the house. Natasha smiles up at them as they set the bags on the floor, “I think we all underestimated just how much stuff we were going to need to get. Every time we thought we were done, one of us remembered something else he was probably going to need.”

Phil chuckles softly, “Honestly, I’m kind of dreading when Commander Fury sees that bill. We spent a good $400 dollars on him today.”

Natasha quickly shuts the door as soon as her hands were free to keep the cold air from getting in, “But unless he has a very sudden growth spirt on us or gains 100 pounds we should be good for some time. We did get a slightly larger size for when he starts getting healthier, so while the clothing might be a little big on him at first it should end up fitting fine.”

Natasha looks at Tony who was looking at Steve and Phil oddly. Her brow furs in confusion and she asks, “ _Dragotsennyy_ , _is something wrong?_ ”

Tony flinches slight and looks at her. He doesn’t say anything for a moment obviously at a loss for words, but eventually says, “ _You came back…_ ”

Steve frowns deeply and walks over to Tony and Bruce. He lays a hand gently on Tony’s head and says, “ _You thought we weren’t coming back, little one?_ ”

Tony looks down not able to keep Steve’s eyes, “ _I…I didn’t…_ ”

Steve rubs his thumb across Tony’s cheek but doesn’t make him raise his head, “ _Why did you think we weren’t coming back, Tony?_ ”

Tony hiccups softly and Steve realizes he was crying. The poor thing tries to stammer out a response but he can’t seem to form the words. Clint quickly steps up and lays a hand gently on Tony’s shoulder, just under where Steve’s hand still rests on his face, “ _It’s ok little one, I’ll explain it to them._ ”

Tony sniffs softly and gives a thankful nod as he cuddles into Steve’s hand. Clint turns to the others and says, “When you guys left, Tony got really nervous about something, and when I pressured him a little I got him to tell me about a little bit of his time as Hydra’s slave. Apparently anyone that was kind to him or took care of him only did so once because; and mind you this is me reading between the lines; when his Hydra Masters found out about what they had done without permission they were killed. Tony was afraid you weren’t coming back because of that experience.”

Natasha looks sadly at Tony still nuzzling his face into Steve’s hand while holding onto Bruce for all he is worth, “He thought that if we left Hydra would kill us for taking care of him?”

Phil sighs softly, “Just when you think he couldn’t possibly break your heart anymore… ”

Clint nods in agreement, “In honesty we don’t know very much about what he had to go through and how it might have affected him. I mean, yes we have the raw data in the files we found, but I’m sure they didn’t put everything down in them.”

Steve grinds his teeth for a moment and says, “I’m sorry, Bruce, but I just need to take him for a moment.”

Bruce lets Steve pull Tony out of his arms and Steve hugs him tightly earning a little squeak from him. Steve losses his arms but still holds on fairly tightly as if he’s afraid that if he lets go Tony will disappear into thin air.

Phil can’t help the small laugh that he lets out at the oddly adorable sound and lets a soft smile pull at his lips at the incredibly sweet scene. He looks out of the corner of his eye to see that Natasha and Clint are laughing softly as well and knows that if he doesn’t step in soon Clint would not let Steve live this moment down.

Phil clears his throat and says, “Steve, since you’re already holding Tony why don’t you take him and his stuff to his room and help him get dressed in something a little warmer?”

Steve starts for a moment and looks at him slightly embarrassed, “Um…Yeah, sure. Nat can you grab the bags for me?”

Natasha laughs a little louder and nods. She grabs the bags and leads the way to Tony’s room. Steve watches as she drops the bags by the bed and looks at it oddly. “They changed the sheets on the bed,” she deadpans.

Steve looks at the bed and realizes she’s right. He walks around and places Tony on the sheets and notes that he wasn’t wearing the sweater Steve gave him. He mentions it to Natasha and she says, “That’s odd. I wonder what happened.”

Steve shrugs and says, “It doesn’t matter to me right now. If you’re really curious you could probably go ask Clint or Bruce. I’m going to get him changed.”

Natasha laughs again, “Ok, I can take a hint. I’ll go help Bruce make dinner or something. You have fun now.”

Steve blinks for a moment before what she said sinks in. He straightens up with a huff and starts to respond only to realize that she wasn’t even in the room anymore. Steve heaves a deep sigh and turns back to Tony who is looking up at him curiously, but casts his eyes back down to the floor when he sees Steve is looking at him.

“ _Tony?_ ” Steve says softly, “ _Is something wrong, little one?_ ”

Tony shakes his head no but doesn’t say anything, instead looking around at all the bags on the floor. Steve gently takes Tony’s chin in his hand and tilts his head up so he could see Tony’s honey eyes and smiles warmly, “ _Curious about what all this is?_ ”

Tony blinks and softly says, “ _Yes…_ ”

“ _This is all stuff for you. Cloths and the such; things to help keep you warm and dry._ ”

Tony’s eyes go wider and he glances at the bags on the floor out of the corner of his eye, “ _All…All of this... is for me?_ ”

Steve smiles wider and says, “ _Yes, little one. All of this is for you and only you. We promised we’d take care of you and this is one of the ways we have to do so._ ”

Tony looks between Steve’s chest and the bags on the floor for a good 30 seconds before swallowing hard and looking up at Steve’s eyes.  Steve opens his mouth to ask Tony if he is ok, but before he can get a word out Tony leans up and places a firm but gentle kiss on his lips.

Steve’s brain promptly crashes and he can’t think. He feels Tony’s tongue slip into his mouth and Steve notes that Tony tastes of something really sweet that he knows but can’t place at the moment.

He leans deeper into the kiss wanting to figure out what that taste is and moaning softly as the taste fills his mouth. He feels Tony’s little hand rest lightly against his chest and he wraps one hand strongly around Tony’s waist as the other rests on the bed by Tony’s hip.

Tony whines softly into the kiss, arching into Steve’s hand a little as his own starts to drift down Steve’s chest. Steve feels Tony’s little hand pulling at the waistband of his jeans and trying to undo the button and suddenly it was like someone had thrown cold water on him.

Steve comes back to his senses and remembers where his and what realizes what he’s doing. With a small squawk he jumps back and stares wide-eyed; and though he would never admit it slightly terrified; at Tony.

He covers his mouth with a hand, tries to stammer something out that just comes out grabbled because of his hand, and runs from the room like hell itself was on his heels slamming the door behind him.

As he stands there trying to catch his breath and come to terms with what just happened and listening to the pounding of feet running down the hall, his mind unhelpfully supplies what Tony tasted like; vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries, his favorite desert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, Kudos, Comments, and Subscribes are always welcome, and if you ever want to contact me on anything, I have yet to close my ask box on [my Tumblr blog.](http://sweetliliumpoison.tumblr.com/) Feel free to drop a line there and I will be sure to get back to you as soon as I possibly can.


	14. Not an Actual Chapter

Sorry everyone that was hoping for an actual update, but this is just a message to you all.

I know you all are waiting eagerly for the next chapter, but life has gotten... complicated for me of late. I have been in and out of the hospital for a long time now with an assortment of problems and health issues. Trying to keep all that in line while also trying to work a full time job so I can keep paying my medical bills and medication, and taking care of home and school life has left me feeling like the only actor in a three ring circus.

I promise you all that I am working on my stories whenever I can and I hope that I can update all of them with an actual chapter soon. I will be taking this chapter down when I have the actual chapter ready to post so keep an eye out for that.

Lily


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